Ginny's Quest -- Part IV of Harry Potter Finally Graduates
by hemerocallis
Summary: Ginny Weasley must lead a small group of Witches and other females on a dangerous Quest to wrest control of the ancient magical circles from the old Gods and Goddesses. She must repair these circles so that magic is strengthened around the world and Muggles can become magical. Harry and Ron may help at a distance, but are tied up with problems of their own.
1. Chapter 1

**Ginny's Quest - Part IV of Harry Potter Finally Graduates**

Disclaimer: Many of the characters and scenes used in this story are the property of J. . None of the contents of this original story may be used without her permission and mine.

Author's Note: This is Part IV of a four-part story. It will make less sense as a stand-alone than if you first read the initial three parts. Please at least read Part III, before starting Ginny's Quest, as it introduces some of Ginny's companions on the Quest.

**Prologue - A Quest Is Announced**

We decided to reveal most of our secrets to the Wizarding world. It's not that I lost the argument or that anyone over-ruled my concerns. I came to recognize that the Mother of the Future must be a leader. Hiding in the shadows and not even admitting that I held the position or giving any inkling of its significance was to play the coward and give up any ability to influence my community. I could avoid foolhardiness, but I must at least match Cissy in courage. Being the Mother was at least as important as being the Keeper. It was a very great honor, but also a very great responsibility. I couldn't be a good Mother of the Future in secret. If I wanted my community to honor the best of the ancient ways, if I wanted to improve the status of Witches, if I wished to have my community accept the other magical species as worthy and equal, then I must become a very public advocate for the Covenant.

If that made me a target for derision or violence, then I must accept that and use a thick skin and my very capable defensive skills to survive, prosper, and spread my message. I wholeheartedly endorsed making most of our secrets public. Although not as skilled a speaker as Hermione, I found I did alright. My fear from the elevator ambush was overblown, more a defensive reaction to Dad's concern. I also found that I was very good at expressing my thoughts in writing. I met with Ernie more than Harry did, giving him written statements in addition to answering questions. I had a new confidence from the knowledge that if I wrote or said anything untoward, the blame and consequences would fall upon my person, not that of my husband or father. Mafalda egged me on and gave me courage. She also encouraged Victoria to be present in our community. Most of the Witches and Wizards seemed more baffled than hostile about what we told them. They had forgotten their people's past, but weren't opposed to learning how their great-greats had lived and thought.

By the time I started playing for the Harpies, everyone knew that I was the Mother of the Future and would soon have to give up Quidditch for the Quest. They knew that I had once been able to operate an ancient transporter to other worlds, but that this marvelous machine had died. They knew that I could still at least message my friends through an ancient Stone and that it could sometimes provide me with important advice. They knew that this Stone controlled a second ancient circle beneath Hogwarts and that its reactivation had led to stronger magic in Scotland and northern England. They had been told about Castle Weasley and the reactivation of its circle. They knew the details of the battle at Malfoy Manor and some more about the misdeeds of Professor Slughorn.

The secrets of others made for more difficult decisions. I was as convinced as Harry and Dad that Narcissa's true parentage would slip out. Slughorn would either be out of jail within the year or the details would have to be disclosed during his trial. I certainly didn't trust Slughorn to keep a secret, other than in self-preservation. Government secrets are corrosive things. They keep trying to eat their way out of the box you've confined them to. More and more effort, of dubious rightness, is required to contain them. When they inevitably leak out, they do enormous damage to the citizens' faith in their government. I really felt for Narcissa and Draco and the unwanted attention they would receive, but I wasn't willing to risk sacrificing all the improvements we'd made since defeating Voldemort to protect them.

Draco said that we must do what we must do. He was at peace with whom he was and realized that he was generally disliked in any case. Narcissa was frightened. She and McGonagall argued that she would be kidnapped or murdered if her secrets came out. After all her conspiracies and bad behavior, perhaps I didn't feel as badly about that as I should. It just seemed that she was already known as the rich Witch who had successively betrayed Voldemort, us, her husband, and us again. We agreed that the horcrux would remain secret, but insisted upon telling at least the basic fact that Narcissa Malfoy was Voldemort's only child.

We agreed to Narcissa's request to keep her mother secret for now, although the presumed kidnapped and murdered Jaden Caulfield was identified as Narcissa's real mother. The various Lucius versus Narcissa conspiracies were also revealed as were the details of Narcissa's initial escape from custody, her near murder by an auror, and McGonagall's role in that escape and my role in her recapture. It was revealed that Ollivander was now able to produce a superior line of new wands.

There was an open tour day inside the pyramid and another at Castle Weasley. They were well attended. Interest in the ancient ways had increased and our community took pride from what our ancestors had achieved. Voldemort and Bruce had proclaimed Wizard superiority and pushed Wizard pride, but had left our community feeling diminished and helpless.

The product of my Ministry Committee had been a weekend open lecture series in which I, Hermione, Victoria, Mafalda, Luna, Trew, and Ostara explained the old religions and the duties of the Mother of the Future and her Muse. This included a tour of the Hogsmeade church and an invitation to new congregants. Many joined our little church. I spoke at the church every few weeks, but Luna and Ostara became its leaders. Cissy was playing an increasingly large role. Aberforce blessed our participation.

I was received better by my community than I had feared. The Prophet was somewhat snide, but the demise of Umbridge had convinced their editor that we were the only game in town. Despite my initial misgivings, it had been a huge relief to shed all of these secrets. I enjoyed my Quidditch much more, because I could be my true self in public. My fellow Harpies were most supportive, including pretending not to notice the two aurors, whom Harry always stationed in the stands, when I practiced or played.

I was totally enjoying my summer. It sometimes felt a little self-indulgent to spend so much of my time on Quidditch, by I had wanted to be a Harpy since I was a small child. The Light Guardian had given me a brief window of time to indulge this dream. I was every bit as good a Quidditch player as I had imagined I would be. I still had much to learn, but was already among the better players on the team. I savored every practice.

It was a hot and sunny summer afternoon, but I was flying fast enough that the breeze kept me cool. This was the final practice before a match, so I was flying as hard as I could, being precise in my turns, using my peripheral vision to anticipate other players attacking me, and basically keeping my wits about me. I was a Harpy, but I was the new kid. I'd played less than a dozen games with the team and I had been assigned to play Chaser, rather than Seeker. I didn't think that made the best use of my skills, but was happy to get onto the pitch in any capacity. I was a pro! The dream of half a lifetime had come true.

As the Quaffle was passed to me, I scooted toward the center goal, veering to avoid a Bludger and climbing to avoid an opposing Beater from bumping my broom. I passed the Quaffle to my left at the last possible instant, pulling up on my broom to fly over the top of the center goal. It was a good maneuver. Just as I was congratulating myself, I felt as though my head was suddenly bloated. Then came the message from the Stone.

**It is time for your Quest. Appear at the Cave of the Elves at noon tomorrow. Bring your Muse with you. Harry, Ron, and Neville may also attend.**

So, this was it. I would not have all of summer for Quidditch. I would have to make awkward excuses to Gwenog Jones, but I had alerted her that this moment might arrive at the most inopportune time. This was the time. I was finally feeling like a useful cog in the Harpy machine. Now I would appear to be a dilettante athlete. I must do what I must do. This explanation would be easier, with the team knowing most of my secrets.

It was difficult maintaining focus for the rest of the practice session. Harpy practices were far longer than Hogwarts practices, but I was only a half hour from its conclusion when the message arrived. It's a wonder that my day dreaming didn't get me seriously injured. I did get a badly bruised shoulder and was almost knocked from my broom.

Gwenog was understanding. I had told her of the Quest when I auditioned for the team. She knew it was not a frivolous undertaking. She wished me well, hoped for my survival, and said I would be welcomed back on my return.

I wasn't confident that my discussion with Harry would be as smooth.

How could I convince Harry that all was well, when I was troubled? Did I command the Stone or did the Stone command me? Doubtless its power greatly exceeded my own. It was missing a lot of recent history, but its knowledge still exceeded mine. Somehow it actually seemed to be learning recent history. Perhaps when one of us communed with the stone or was one with it, the exchange of information was two way and the Stone now knew everything that any of us had learned or experienced during our lives, possibly even forgotten knowledge that we couldn't retrieve ourselves.

I hoped that the meeting in the cave would answer my basic question about the Quest. I had figured out that restarting all the old stone circles was important to the proper restoration of magic. I could understand that there were some ancient Gods and Goddesses that might need to be brought on board with the plan or pushed out of the way. But why did this venture need to be conducted according to such rigid and seemingly cruel rules? Why could only females participate in the Quest? If there was essential work to be accomplished, why not bring the largest army of fighters, magical engineers, and thinkers to the battle? If success was vital, wouldn't an army of hundreds increase the chances of success? Wasn't that a good thing? And my biggest question: exactly who or what was setting these rules? Why? How would the rules be enforced?

I know that Harry wondered about all of this. I couldn't answer his questions. I knew in my heart that the Quest was necessary – vitally important. I couldn't explain that to Harry, because I didn't really understand it myself.

The summer had gone as well as I could have hoped, even if it would be shortened. Harry and I were living in our new house, with Ron and Hermione right next door. Even though Hermione was researching a paper with Ellie on the contents of the Peverell room and I was spending six hours a day with the Harpies, we still saw each other daily.

Harry was a full-time Deputy Minister and Ron was now his top assistant. They were both taking auror courses at the Ministry. Despite Harry having had to suspend Shacklebolt for a week over the attack on fake Narcissa, they were doing actual auror work one day per week, in addition to the courses, to get a feel for what the job was like.

I had been putting off making the final determination about whom I would invite on my Quest. I realized that not all whom I asked would accept. I had to work quickly. I had only twenty hours until I had to be in the Cave of the Elves, and didn't know if I would be required to present my list of assistants at that time. I'd have to ask permission of the Goblin King to even attend that meeting. I did have the advantage that he wanted his daughter on my Quest team.

For the initial invites, it really came down to whether I included a Goblin and an Elf and whether I chose McGonagall or Cissy. Taking a young Goblin pointed me in the direction of not including the very young Cissy. McGonagall and Narcissa had been released shortly after Erin's death. Dad had relented that much, possibly believing Draco needed his mother's support, but refused to allow a return to Hogwarts. "I cannot allow Hagrid and Narcissa to be so close to each other or Narcissa to be that close to any possible little pieces of the ghost."

Draco had met with his mother and then had a second meeting with both his mother and McGonagall. He insisted that Luna be present. Despite their pleas, he told them that he couldn't bear to live under the same roof with either of them. A fuller reunion with his mother would have to wait until he felt stronger. I don't know why McGonagall had expected to be welcomed into Malfoy Manor, but Luna reported that she was as disappointed as Narcissa, when Draco said that they must find other lodgings and that he wanted no more meetings for at least a month, while he sorted things on his own.

They were staying in a rented dwelling owned by McGonagall's brother. He was eager to discuss wandmaking with his sister. McGonagall still had the small amount of sand I had given her. I refused to give her more. McGonagall and Narcissa had appeared together before the reporters and answered an hour of questions. They had each formally entered guilty pleas and been sentenced to a decade of probation plus time served. The Prophet thought they both got off very lightly, but there was a fair amount of sympathy for them - well at least for McGonagall.

McGonagall viewed Edinburgh as very temporary and was pushing that she and Narcissa be allowed back into Hogwarts. "Hagrid doesn't need to set foot inside the castle and Narcissa can stay far away from Slytherin. There is no reason for her to even enter the basement. I can keep a close watch on her and continue to help her remember. She isn't a danger and her full recovery requires a lot of careful nurturing in a favorable environment."

Narcissa had no desire to go to Hogwarts or to remain in Edinburgh. She had set her mind upon a return to Malfoy Manor, as soon as that was possible. Draco was close to relenting. George was becoming less and less happy with Luna being Draco's ever-present support system, so she was restricting her visits to an hour a day to check on baby Erin. Middle-aged Jaden was living with Draco and her presence prevented him from hiring the housekeeper and nanny he really needed. Jaden was his grandmother, but was also a near stranger to him.

Narcissa pronounced herself "cured and ready to resume life as a productive citizen. I know I'm on probation and I don't have a wand - that should make me no threat to you. My son needs me, even if he doesn't realize it. I want to get back to my house and my family. You really have no right to force me to continue living with Professor McGonagall. She is wearing on my nerves. I've remembered all that I care to remember of my distant past. I think she is trying to rekindle fond memories of my senior year. That won't happen."

This presented a dilemma for Dad. Narcissa's cheeky tone upset him, but he didn't want a public stink over this, since she had been granted probation, and he didn't want the perception that he was trying to drive her back into McGonagall's arms. Despite being Minister, Dad still had to take a lot of crap from people.

I was about to set off for Edinburgh to determine whether McGonagall was still willing to join the Quest. I had my broom and planned to apparate to the point where we had broken into the park in back of 10101. I could fly my broom to McGonagall's rented house. I told Hermione of my intention and her response surprised me.

"Do you really want to do that. She has betrayed your family quite a few times. I just don't trust her."

Neither did I, but I also didn't want Cissy. I had rebelled against the suggestion that I might be required to take Cissy, but I realized that for all her thrill-seeking immaturity, I trusted her more than I trusted McGonagall. I really didn't want to include McGonagall. I had enjoyed Hogwarts more with her gone. I left the decision for tomorrow. They had both begged to join the Quest, if either refused after tomorrow – not my fault. Mainly, I just didn't want to discuss a Quest invitation with either of them this moment. I might hear something tomorrow which would eliminate one or both.

I found that I was totally committed to the principal of making this a multi-species Quest. Tendra and Catta would be part of my team. That gave me three females meeting the 'young' criteria. Goblins had been former enemies of Wizards and her Dad had shoved me into the Sacred Cavern at sword point. Did Tendra fill the bill as a former enemy or rival? Including her was sort of an inter-species piece offering. The Stone wanted Cho. If the Stone was some sort of arbiter of the rules, it wasn't a bad idea to curry favor with it. I liked and trusted Cho and she was very skilled. Viktor's problems seemed over. Cho could be counted as a former rival, if the grand arbiter didn't accept Tendra. Mafalda would be my old Witch and unfortunately first to die.

I messaged Cho through the Stone. She agreed to sign on to the Quest. That gave me my five assistants. It wouldn't hurt to have a few backup candidates in reserve, in case one of my choices was rejected by the mysterious grand arbiter.

I wanted Adrienne and I wanted Luna. They both cheered me. Without McGonagall, Adrienne's transfiguration and Witch sculpture skills would come in handy. I thought her Siren skills might help if we progressed as far as Greece. Adrienne had taken the time after end of term to travel first to Lesbos, then to Crete and finally to the highlands of mainland Greece. She had made a study of the history of the Witches and Gods and Goddesses of her ancestral homeland. That might come in handy.

Luna was a tougher choice. I thought my brother George might benefit from a bit of a marital vacation, but he was craving more of Luna's time. I didn't think this would end well for them, but didn't want to be the cause of George having to fend for himself for several months. That would make me forever the cause of a failed marriage.

Dad's release of prisoners also made Rita Skeeter available. She had been released on the same day as McGonagall, Narcissa, and Slughorn. Like the rest she claimed to be on good behavior, but I doubted I could trust her any more than I could trust McGonagall. It would have been handy to have bug Rita, but she would be a deep reserve. As I thought of released prisoners, I realized that my husband would have his hands full in my absence. Dad had also released the Parkinsons, and Mrs. Frakes. The other Frakes were to be tried on the full charges. I'd do Harry a great favor if I took Rita with me.

I'd love to have Margaret on my Quest. Her personality meshed so well with mine and she was totally loyal. But… if I was required to take young Cissy, I didn't think I could also handle young Margaret and then there was the issue of her father. Hermione had said that I really needed to consider Ellie. I would keep her on my spare list, even though I had never spoken to her about the request. Barb Rich was a spare for sure. Her fighting skills and ability to sense threats would come in handy.

If I didn't have Margaret, I realized that I needed someone who could fight super well if the magic failed. A female Centaur would be great, but likely too large for many of the places we would be traveling to. This brought me to the topic of swords. Tendra was quite good with hers. I would have to borrow the Sword of Gryffindor and the full Joan relics. This Quest had so many rules, that I fully expected to encounter something nasty, like the sudden absence of magic. That got me thinking about what other charmed relics I might borrow or create for the Quest. The nice thing about the Joan relics was that they had magical power even when Witches couldn't tap the circles for traditional wand power. The Rod of Asclepias had also worked well when magic was spotty, while Madam Pomfrey had been reduced to using her sewing kit when magic failed. What else could I take on the Quest. My mind turned to other relics, then Fawkes, then other pets. I was swimming in rather random thoughts and forced my mind to take a time out.

Hermione and Ron came over to our house for dinner. I didn't say anything until we had finished dessert and a full bottle of Witch sherry, although I could tell that both Harry and Ron realized that something important and dread-worthy was about to be broached for discussion. They kept their concerns to themselves until I finally announced, in as calm a voice as I could manage, "the Stone informed me today that the Quest is upon us. We are to be in the Cave of the Elves at noon tomorrow. I wasn't asked to bring anyone other than Hermione. You, Ron, and Neville are allowed to join us in the cave, if you want to come."

"If we want to come!" Harry exploded. "Neither of us is happy with the Quest, but of course we want to come. We need to hear first-hand what you are in for and how we will be permitted to assist you.

"You've long since convinced us that we can't persuade you to simply give up this whole dangerous Quest idea. I, I'm sure both of us, at least want to hear enough to believe that it makes some warped kind of sense and serves a purpose worthy of our wives voluntarily risking their lives."

"Yeah, why would you think we wouldn't want to go?" Ron challenged me.

"It was a poor choice of words," I apologized. "I did think it might be very painful for you."

"The whole Quest is certain to be both very painful and very lonely for me, but I have to at least understand it. I certainly want to know what I'm allowed to do to help you complete the Quest safely."

We drank more sherry. It worked with Harry – he is a happy, sleepy drunk. Ron got a bit more belligerent, demanding further explanations, which he had increasing difficulty comprehending. He had quieted down and was nearly asleep when Hermione dragged him back to their own house.

We arrived at the Cave of the Elves at precisely 11:58. I didn't want to be either late or too early. We were met at the mouth of the cave by the Goblin King and three of his young warriors. "The Mother of the Future is welcome to use the Cave of the Reborn Goblin Nation for her meeting. Please go in, we shall not disturb you, but will stand guard so that your meeting not be interrupted. The cave is empty."

As we waited, Hermione and I speculated that friendship between the Goblins and Elves had not progressed as rapidly as might be hoped. At 12:02 there was a loud bang and Cotto appeared upon a rock in his full regalia.

"You're here as the Messenger Elf, aren't you," left my lips.

"Yes. I have received guidance from the Keeper of the Universe, well you know it's from Firenze. It includes some things the Light Guardian told us when it was here, but it didn't tell us much. I am to instruct you on the rules for your Quest. What the new Goblin King told you of the Quest is not strictly factual. He at least told you to bring the proper number of Witches. I see you brought only Hermione, which is all that was required for now. I hope you have a suggested list of the other five Witches. Since that particular Goblin is not entirely to be trusted, you and your assistants will not be penalized for any breach of the rules, since you are now officially hearing them for the first time.

"Your Quest starts here in two weeks. You must all put your affairs in order. While the Goblin King is wrong that more than one of you must die, death is certainly a possibility you must consider. The objective of your Quest is to re-tune, re-start, or re-create all of the ancient Circles, which made this a magical world. You also must convince the remaining ancient Gods and Goddesses to permit you to do this, to swear at least a partial loyalty to the Light Guardian and Covenant, and to protect and maintain the Circles in their domains. Among your team, you know all which you need to know to accomplish this goal.

"A great reward was mentioned for completing this Quest. It is this: if you succeed, a multitude of sentient beings will acquire the ability to use magic - perhaps all of them. They will be able to live in peace, without the interference of the dark forces caused by the present distortion of the magical forces in much of the world. A reasonable world would thank you for sacrificing to achieve this. I cannot guarantee that this will happen.

"Certainly your own magical powers will be greatly strengthened, as you will be able to commune with and draw upon all of the Circles you visit. The Stone knows the location of all the Circles you must visit. You must recreate the old Circle in what you call the Chamber of Secrets. If you succeed, magic throughout Britain will become both stronger and far more unstable. It will be intolerable, causing both madness and increased magical strength. To solve this problem, you must proceed to the next Circle and the next, because true balance will be restored only when all of the Circles are operating properly, as they were meant to be. This will leave the world in peaceful harmony among greatly magical beings. All madness will be driven out. Your Voldemort and Bruce and the Goblins' Ruppasta were products of the imbalance in the magical forces. They were especially attuned to it and able to harness its dark energy. The instability both promoted their particular madness and gave them their special abilities. There is no dark energy in a fully stabilized magical force. That is why proper tuning is so vital and the number one duty of the Mother and her Keepers.

"Now, I must examine your choice of assistants and tick them off against the required categories. Who is your young Witch?"

Since I might only have three Witches to choose, I decided to hold Cissy in reserve. I answered 'Cho.'

"I am not sure she is young enough. She is older than you and Hermione. In the past, the young Witch has been eleven to fifteen years old. We would not be so cruel as to force you to subject the very young to our Quest, but I will have to consult the others about Cho. Who is the old?"

"Mafalda."

"No offense to the dear lady, but I cannot fault Ginny on that. Who is your first to leave for another realm?"

"Not first to die?"

"No, not exactly, Goblins are not always good at nuance, when it is not a business matter which can be turned to their advantage. They can be quite literal beings in most matters. That is why they value art so highly. It is the only permissible break with their literal upbringing. But you stall. Who is your choice."

"Mafalda."

"She obviously is accepted. That choice was yours alone and not contestable. Who is the former foe?"

"Cho."

"I'm not sure that is acceptable. She is the wife of your ally and helped you capture Bruce. Please explain."

I did and Cotto answered, "She might be acceptable, I will think on this. List and explain your reasons for choosing the other members of your team."

"I have a question. Am I limited to just Hermione and five Witches, or may I bring females from other magical species?"

"There is no rule against other species and strictly speaking, they don't count against your five. There is also no precedent for this. In prior Quests, the candidate Mother was not close enough to the other species to choose from their number. I assume you have decided to take Catta. I am pleased. Which of the Goblin King's females travels with you."

"Tendra," I answered.

"That is fine. She is young enough to fill the 'young' role except that I believe all the assigned roles must be filled by Witches. I was going to say I can also check on that, but it doesn't really matter. I must warn you that the other species will be trickier. There is simply no precedent. I cannot guarantee that a female Unicorn or Centaur or Mer-Person could fit or survive in all the places you will be going. The Quest was designed for your kind. If one of your party is unable to travel to a required location, the rules don't specify whether she must wait behind and join you at the next stop, quit the Quest, or die. You could also bring a Leprechaun or a spider."

"May I think about that during the next two weeks? I don't suppose you could do some research and clarify the rules, regarding the Centaurs and Unicorns."

"I will check, but I promise nothing.

The Goblin King was correct that as the female Keeper, Cissy must be on your team. I know this strikes you as cruel. She IS very young. By immutable law, after the Muse, the Keepers are the primary assistants of the Mother. While the Keepers answer to the Mother and must follow her direction, the rules of the Quest are clear. If the Mother has a female Keeper, that Keeper must participate in the Quest. Since she is a Keeper, you must choose Cissy. She may be your young Witch."

"That gives you two more Witches to name."

"Barb Rich is a great fighter and has an enhanced ability to detect danger and bad intent. She volunteered to be first to die, so I know that she is both fearless and determined that we succeed. Adrienne is a Siren. She is also the most creative member of our team. She has the ability to keep the rest of our team cheered up and possibly to charm a God or Goddess. She has studied the Greek Witch history and Goddesses and is my transfiguration expert."

"I must accept Barb. She was accepted by the Light Guardian. Adrienne is a most dangerous choice. She can charm yourselves and your adversaries, but she also has the ability to drive your whole team to despair. If Adrienne is broken, you may all are broken. If you choose to take her, you must carry art supplies. She needs them to maintain her happy mood. I cannot reject her, but I urge you to reconsider this choice. She is a creator, not a fighter. Bruce Montaigne came within an inch of breaking her and driving her mad. Bruce is hardly a God.

"You have two weeks to reconsider who is on your team. Bring one or two spare assistants, in case any become too frightened to continue, when they hear what I tell them."

That certainly was a big help.

"There is one other thing, which I must tell you. It is actually a little bit of cheating to help you. We all want you to succeed. It is very important to all of our communities. You may disregard this or use it to your advantage. There is another living Witch, who was groomed from birth to lead the Quest. Her father thought this would strengthen his control, but when he learned that a successful Quest meant his destruction, he hid the training deep within the child. He left himself an out, should he change his mind and decide the Quest must take place. There is a phrase to break the spells, which lock that part of her brain. That phrase is "I Am Lord Voldemort, go forth and seek on my behalf, I command you, my daughter." That message comes from a part of the Stone memory which will remain closed to you, until you either complete your Quest or your death is at hand."

"Voldemort knew of the Quest and the Stone? He entered the pyramid?"

"Voldemort knew of the Quest. He did not enter the pyramid, although he roamed the passages around it. The Stone knew of Voldemort. He and his daughter progressed as far as the Cave of the Elves, but turned back, when they heard the rules and details of the Quest. He spoke to the Stone through me, without understanding it or knowing what it was."

"Voldemort and his daughter applied to enter the Quest? How? I thought the Quest chose me, not the other way around. Was his daughter also the Mother of the Future? She would have to be, to lead the Quest, wouldn't she?"

"He thought she was; she may not have been. The Stone chooses. Candidates are nominated or merely present themselves and the Stone chooses. You were picked by prophesy. The Stone's choice rippled back through time."

"How old was she when she presented herself for selection?"

"She was seventeen. That is the normal age."

"What? That makes no sense at all. She wasn't with…"

"Before you ask, I don't know how she was nominated. She may have done so, herself. Only a Witch, a Unicorn, the Goblin King, a Keeper, the Keeper of the Universe, or the Messenger Elf may nominate a candidate. That is enough questions. When you return here in exactly two weeks, bring your final team. I guess there was another, other thing. Neither I nor the Gods can accept Cho as former foe."

"Then I choose Tendra. Her species and mine were at odds for centuries. This is a reconciliation."

"I accept Tendra as a former foe. Her father marched you at sword point, regardless of the reason. Goblin daughters inherit the sins and rivalries of their fathers. So do the sons, by the way. Unfortunately for our present needs, the former foe or rival must be a Witch."

"You are really determined to make me choose Narcissa, aren't you?" I complained.

Cotto continued as if I had said nothing.

Hermione asked if she might ask a question. This was permitted. What use was a Muse if she couldn't question and advise?

"When Voldemort and his daughter abandoned the Quest - was it during their first or second visit to this cave?"

"It was on their second visit."

"Then they had picked Narcissa's Muse and Witch assistants. Who were they?"

"I will think upon the wisdom and legality of revealing that information. Perhaps when next you stand here?"

"Now, you want to know about Harry and Ron. I have been training Harry, as much for this Quest as for his Ministry duties. I have been training Ron in a more subtle manner. They are ready to assist you. They have a formal role in the Quest. That role had the name of Keeper Of Her Soul In Our Reality, which has since been shortened to Keeper. They may be in constant mental contact with you and your Muse, by way of the Stone. The others on your team will not be permitted contact with the outside. Harry is already approved for that role. Ron is not. For him to participate, you must name him a Keeper. If you do, you must fashion a new ring and have it blessed in the normal manner.

"There are rules for the male Keepers. I apologize for this. The Light Guardian is a most kind and rational being, but it is still a God. The Gods must play their little games. The more easily bored among them play all too many games and destroy their subjects and themselves in the process.

"The Light Guardian is a most serious God. Be glad it is so. A light-hearted, frivolous God is not at all a good thing. It is a short step from a Godly jest or game, to becoming the bully of the universe. This is a digression, but you should know that some of the Gods whom you must face are jestful Gods, who have all but destroyed themselves through boredom and frivolity. Know them for the bullies that they are. That also makes them weak. They are lesser Gods.

"Know that any God or Goddess with a gender is a lesser God. Some of these Gods even chose to mate with humans. That has never ended well. Some may choose to mate with you or your Muse. I must strongly discourage such actions on your part. More than one Quest has ended in failure, by that route. I have cheated on your behalf to the maximum extent I am able, based upon my limited knowledge, which is also restricted by the rules.

"Now then, to the rules. As to your Keepers, they may not have physical, visual, or even sound contact with any of you during the course of the Quest. They may not speak of the Quest's progress to anyone. They may not slay a God or Goddess on your behalf – not that it is likely they would be able to do so. They may not offer up their own lives as substitutes for the lives of any on the Quest. They may not mate with another, while you are on your Quest. They may not send you or procure for you either diamond or fire or chocolate, while you are on your Quest.

"For you and your Quest team, the rules are simpler. This is essentially an underground Quest. The rule is, once the Quest begins, you may not stand upon the surface of this world, until the Quest is complete. The surface of the world includes both the ground level earth, any above ground portion of a structure which is open to the outside world, and anything both solid and open to the sun or moon. Other than that, there are no rules. That is only fair, the Gods and Goddesses whom you encounter will make their own rules and will disregard them as they see fit. If you have questions, it is possible that I will be able to answer them."

"There have been previous Quests?"

"There have been six previous Quests. Two of them succeeded. The last of these was two millennia ago. There have also been four Quests prepared for, but not undertaken."

"Is it true that we can leave the Quest, without penalty, before reaching Durmstrang Cavern?"

"You may depart the Quest at Durmstrang. The penalty is the instability you will have created by that time. Britain alone will be safe from that instability."

"How many stops are there on the Quest?"

"There are as many as fourteen and as few as nine. Durmstrang will be your fourth stop."

"Can my Keepers bring supplies to us?"

"Your Keepers may either transport supplies by way of the Stone or deliver them in advance of your arrival. The transporter will work for deliveries on this world to each destination, save one."

"And that destination is?"

"Unknown to me."

"What happens if we die?"

"You are dead. If you have been brave on your Quest, you will likely be honored in Beyond World, with the Valkyrie eager to serve you. Your death may not be spoken of on this world. That would anger the Gods."

"So we must battle and defeat at least nine Gods and Goddesses."

"I never said that. You must visit at least nine former Circles. I don't know whether all of them still have Gods. Some may have more than one. If they do have Gods, I would strongly urge you to avoid a fight, if at all possible. The odds of defeating nine Gods or Goddesses in combat do not seem favorable."

"When we meet you in two weeks, will we start the Quest immediately?"

"You will begin at midnight on that day. You may bring any supplies which you and your Keepers can carry, and leave them in the cave for that twelve hours."

"You said that Harry and Ron have the title Keeper of Her Soul. Does that mean that we can travel to our destination as spiritual warriors as we did when we defeated the Dementors? Does it mean they can be harcruxes for us? And if Keeper really means Keeper of Her Soul, whose soul were the Lords Montaigne supposed to keep?"

The answer to those three questions is maybe – there is no record, possibly – there is no record and I don't know how that might be done, and probably their daughters if they really were Keepers, rather than usurpers."

"Who enforces the rules? What happens if we break them? If the purpose is to turn on all of the circles and evict or get the support of the Gods and Goddesses, isn't it easier to do that with a bigger team and no rules?"

"Perhaps I should have defined 'rule'. There are no written rules, just as there were no written rules on how to summon the Light Guardian when all of you entered the Sacred Cavern. Could you have summoned the Light Guardian from the Reception Hall, without risking your lives? I don't know. All any of us know is what legend says about what has worked and not worked in the past. Firenze, the Goblin King, and I have searched our memories of our people's legends. I have consulted the Stone. What I list as rules are our best guess of what will work. The smallest part of what I tell you comes from the Light Guardian. None of us knows what happens if you break the rules. None of us knows who enforces the rules. The Stone knows more than any of us and I have learned as much as it will tell me. You are a smart Witch. You should follow the rules unless your only choices are break the rules or fail. Then I would break the rules and see what happens. It might be very bad, but also very bad to fail – your choice. I say foolish to break rules before you must."

So, there, I had the perfect clarity of other beings' best guesses and no evidence that the rules actually came from the Light Guardian itself. I knew that Harry and Ron would find this to be every bit as wonderful as I found it to be. I wondered if Voldemort might help me gain a better understanding of my Quest.

"You have not given me one reason to believe that there is any benefit or reward to fixing the circles by dangerous Quest, rather than the safer approach of taking a hundred aurors and magical engineering experts, male as well as female."

"I thought that was obvious. Unless the Stone tells you, you'll never find all the circle locations. There are Gods who would slaughter male intruders, but might be kinder to females. Bring a horde of beings with you and none of the Gods and Goddesses will take a friendly view of you. You will not become the Mother of the Future and your prophecies will be dead. Firenze, King Gobbledegook, the Unicorns, and I will lose respect for you as a good and brave person who honors and understands our shared heritage. Do you require more reasons."

"No. I had to ask. Unreasonableness and a lack of logic bother me.

"Do you have any other advice for me?"

"In two weeks, you may ask me three more questions. Think carefully upon what you will ask. Also, pack plenty of chocolate. You and your Muse should go. I must talk to your male Keepers."

**Original text**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One – Narcissa Malfoy**

The information about my Quest had me in a mental turmoil. I couldn't simply stand and wait. My future depended upon this. I suppose that I should have expected to find Cotto or Firenze in the cave. Yet I had been surprised. I think I had expected just the disembodied voice of the Stone in my head. Perhaps even another visit from the Light Guardian. I would have found that heartening, as the Light Guardian seemed a more civilized sponsor for the Quest. But then, couldn't it just fix the circles itself?

As it was, I felt that I was being led by the nose by the leaders of the other magical beings, just as I had been when we confronted Ruppasta. I think it was the whole surprise of having Narcissa shoved in my face. And Voldemort! The other magical leaders certainly knew what they wanted from me. They conspired among themselves to get me to do what they wanted. They clearly spent a lot of time talking about me and deciding what I should be told and when I should be told it. Cotto was infinitely friendly and helpful and even played at being servile at times, but he was manipulating me. I think he honestly liked me and wished me well, but he was manipulating me. I had no idea what he and the other leaders would do if I chose to march away in exactly the opposite direction from where I had been pointed. Everyone assumed that I would be eager enough or sufficiently self-bound by an ill-defined sense of duty to play my role in their game.

What I had just heard definitely explained why Voldemort would abandon all interest in the Quest. Sharing his powers with Muggles wouldn't appeal to him. I hadn't heard anything, either today or previously, to suggest a reward great enough to interest Voldemort in the first place. Yet, he and Narcissa had come as far as the second trip to the cave. I could think of nothing which would have brought them to this cave a second time.

My nerves were all abuzz. I was ready to fight someone or something. I told Hermione "I can't just stand here and wait. Nothing makes sense to me and I need answers."

She nodded agreement, complaining "I think we've been given the opportunity to die or be honored as the world's most altruistic and useful saps."

I didn't know how long Harry and Ron would be with Cotto. I expected that the three of them would fight, or at least do a lot of shouting. I probably should have waited to discuss everything that I'd heard with Harry and Ron. It had been a lot to take in. I just couldn't wait to visit Narcissa. If she had been prepared for a Quest, I had to know how she had been prepared and if she knew anything that I didn't. Why me and not her?

I also shouldn't have interrupted whatever my husband had to say to Cotto, but I didn't want him to leave the cave and find me missing. He was able to sense when I was troubled and I had clearly been upset in the cave. I sent him a message through the Stone, telling him that I was calm again and really quite fine, but that Hermione and I were off to visit Narcissa. I suspected that if intruding on Harry's meeting with Cotto was not at all the done thing, that the Stone would block the message and deliver it later.

Harry got right back to me. Just **Okay, Bill will apparate you. ** I guess I had intruded.

I asked Bill to apparate us to Narcissa.

"She's still with Professor McGonagall in Edinburgh. We can just catch her, before she leaves. Please grab a hand."

Reason over-came nerves. I didn't want McGonagall to know what I had to say to Narcissa. If she knew that Narcissa harbored Quest knowledge, she would find a way to stay with her and pry that information loose for her own ends.

"When will she be alone and where will she be?" I asked Bill.

"She should be back at Malfoy Manor for dinner."

"I'll wait, I'd rather McGonagall not share in our conversation."

Harry and Ron were surprised to find us waiting for them as they left the cave.

"She's with McGonagall," I explained. "I didn't want McGonagall to know of my business with Narcissa"

I was surprised to see Cotto calmly chatting with Ron and my husband. To me, it sort of detracted from all the mystique of the Messenger Elf laying down detailed rules about my Quest pursuit. He had ditched his Messenger Elf/Elf King togs and was once again plain old Cotto. Perhaps he thought Harry would freak out a little less with that return to normalcy.

It was just unsettling and very strange to have Cotto and Firenze switching back and forth between giving me life-and-death hard rules, based upon who really knew what, and being helpful friends and colleagues. You can't be a God-surrogate and a friendly associate, the two just don't happily coexist. You can't be friendly and helpful, while supplying vital information in dribs and drabs on a 'trust me' basis, with no grounding in logic, or anything I knew of the Light Guardian or the Stone. I greeted Cotto in a friendly manner, but I still resented being manipulated.

Rather than apparate back to the Ministry and encounter inquiring minds demanding an explanation I was unable and unwilling to provide, I suggested to Harry that the four of us take a walk to inspect our new homes. This had the happy effect of detaching Cotto from our group. As soon as he departed and we were well out of ear range of the Goblin Guards, Hermione assaulted Harry and Ron with questions.

"What did Cotto have to say to you, that we weren't supposed to hear?"

"Really not much," Harry's tone of voice was very defensive. "He mainly wanted to convince Ron and me that your Quest is extremely important and not quite as risky as we feared."

"But, that means almost as risky and you and Ron were convinced that Ginny and I will die on the Quest. So… not quite definitely suicidal, is that the gist of it?"

"No, he was much more optimistic than that. He said every single Muse recorded as having undertaken the Quest has returned alive. It's not as good for Ginny. Only 60-40 odds in her favor based on past Quests, but Cotto doubts any prior Mother candidate has been as qualified as Ginny is. He says he expects that both of you will live to tell your children about the Quest. He also said that Ginny is the first Mother to think of including magical females from the other communities. He thinks that greatly improves your chances. He says King Gobbledegook wouldn't volunteer his daughter, if he expected her to die. He loves Tendra very much. He says that he would not sacrifice Catta in a Quest with little chance of success."

"So, he gave you grimmer news than he gave us," I prodded Harry.

"No, not really," my brother answered instead of Harry. "He says more of the old Gods are dead or nearly dead than at the time of prior Quests. That makes your chances much better."

"I thought he was going to tell you about your role in our Quest. It sounds more like he ordered you to keep us from becoming too discouraged to begin the Quest," Hermione challenged both Harry and Ron.

"He did accuse us of trying to frighten you out of accepting a very important challenge. He said it was necessary that you have confidence in yourselves, because fear leads to mistakes," Ron admitted. "He really did spend most of the time talking about what we can do, while you're on the Quest. We can visit most of the sites ahead of you and stock them with what you will need. We just have to be gone before you arrive and we can't kill or stun any creatures we find. We can do research for you, including visiting anyone you need information from. We can kill your non-God enemies if they show themselves on the surface. If you can force an enemy to the surface, we can attack from the front, while you attack from the rear, just as long as we are never in sight of each other and you are always below the surface. We can keep the circles in tune or out of tune after you leave them. There really is quite a lot that Harry and I are allowed to do. Cotto, Firenze, and King Gobbledegook can also help in that way."

"If the purpose of the Quest is to get all of the magical circles working in harmony, why would you want to detune them after we fixed them? That makes no sense," Hermione challenged Harry.

"I don't understand it either, but Cotto made it sound like that might be really important. Some of the ancient Gods and Goddesses still have a few serious worshippers, from whom they can draw strength. We can also deal with them – not kill them, the Light Guardian would not approve of that, but use the 'Off!' curse at a critical moment so they can't provide any strength. It sounds far-fetched but Cotto believes it possible. I don't know what to think. At times I thought Cotto was just jollying Ron and me along, giving us something to do while you're away so we don't feel powerless. I've never had to deal with something as strange as this."

"That's all we know," Ron promised. "The important thing is whether you are actually going to go along with this. I don't like this. Cotto and the Goblins are pushing way too hard and being way too secretive about this."

"I don't like it either," I admitted "but I think we may not have a choice. I at least want to find out what Narcissa knows. She should be at Malfoy Manor by now. I think that we should all drop in for a visit."

We picked the hour when Luna was checking up on Erin. I hadn't even been thinking of Luna and was speechless, when she answered the door.

"We need to talk to Narcissa," Harry spoke for me. "Has she arrived."

"She's upstairs unpacking. I'll tell her you need to speak to her."

We didn't have to wait long. As soon as Narcissa stepped off the stairs, I addressed her, carefully controlling the pitch of my voice to the Tom I remembered from the Chamber of Secrets: "I Am Lord Voldemort, go forth and seek on my behalf, I command you, my daughter."

Narcissa stopped abruptly, throwing her hands up to the sides of her head. Then she just collapsed in a heap.

"Perhaps the sudden surprise wasn't the best approach," I apologized to everyone. "I think she fainted."

I didn't realize that Draco had joined us, until he stepped in front of me and poured a whole pitcher of lemonaid on his mother's head. That brought her sputtering to a sitting position. She gave her son a reproachful look, then turned to face us. Luna brought a damp kitchen towel for her to clean up.

"That stung my eyes," she complained to Draco. "And, it is sticky."

"You were the Mother of the Future before I was," I informed her. "I think that you now remember all about that."

"If you give me a minute with the towel, I'll tell you what I remember."

Luna supplied a second towel and Narcissa continued to wipe her face, giving a questioning look to her son, who was still holding the empty pitcher.

"I'm not sure that I was ever accepted as a Mother of the Future candidate. In any case, I was forced to withdraw, before a decision was made. You can't just announce your readiness to lead a Quest and then off you go. The other magical species have to approve your Quest. I thought that the Centaur was very dubious of me and the Elf not a lot more encouraging. It was no matter, Voldemort told me that it had been a bad idea. Then he made me forget. Actually, he made both Jaden and me forget. He had also groomed my mother to lead the Quest. She may also have some memories that can help you. We appeared before the committee of other magical beings together – Jaden, my father, and me. It was in a cave, looking out over a forested valley. I've just remembered all of that. Even McGonagall couldn't pry those memories loose from their hiding spot deep in my mind."

"I knew the phrase that Voldemort implanted so that he could recover the memories of your training, if he ever needed them. I was surprised to learn that Voldemort shoved you forward as a Mother candidate. I didn't realize you were that close to him, while you were at Hogwarts. You clearly knew that he was your father."

"No – I didn't know that for most of my time at Hogwarts. It was only during my seventh year that Voldemort approached me again. I hadn't seen him, since I was placed with the Blacks. My memories of my life before the Blacks was hidden from me… but you already know that."

"Okay, when did Voldemort reappear in your life."

"It was on Hogsmeade day in the Fall of my seventh year. I was coming out of Honeydukes with three of my friends, when my sister Bella came up to me on the road. She said that there was a family emergency which she needed to tell me about in private. She led me along a side road and then into a narrow alley and the basement of a shack. Voldemort was waiting for us. I was surprised to see him – no, I was terrified. I thought he planned to murder me.

He said "awaken to your rightful future, my only child," and suddenly I remembered my early childhood. I remember it again. It is painful. Please don't ask me about it."

"Okay, I won't. Just tell me about that meeting."

"I felt relief remembering that he was my father and unlikely to murder me on the spot. Just as I was starting to relax he accused me. 'Bella told me about you and McGonagall. She has spies in Slytherin who watch you for me. You coupled with that vile Witch are of no use to me. I had given you a place in a Great Family, because I had noble plans for you. Now I must harvest what remaining value I can. You are a great disappointment to me.' That's exactly what he said. I again felt the chill of death. At least he wouldn't drop me on the spot, but I didn't like the sound of that word – 'harvest'. It was awful."

"Please, get off the floor and sit on this chair," Luna encouraged her. "Just relax. Voldemort is dead. He can't harm you."

I initially was upset that Luna had broken my string of questions, but quickly realized that she had been more perceptive than me. Narcissa was shaking. She seemed to have lost all self-control as her mind reverted to the horror of her meeting with Voldemort.

I thanked Luna, while Draco gave his mother a cup of tea to drink. She sat sipping the tea for a few minutes and seemed to regain her composure. She visibly refocused her concentration, before speaking.

"I'm better now. Those are not pleasant memories. The next thing that happened is that Voldemort told Bella that his conversation with me was not for her ears. I think she worried what he would do to me, but of course she left, you didn't say no to him. He said that I was to be the continuation of his line, but that might no longer be possible. The best use of me might be to increase his power by leading a Quest. He told me that the Quest was very dangerous, but I would simply have to face those dangers. He said I might not be worthy of the Quest, but that he would train me as well as my mother.

"I had to learn about magical engineering, Gods, Goddesses, and a lot about fighting, with and without magic. He said that I would be contacted by him from time to time at Hogwarts and then over Christmas break. He said to expect a book to be delivered. I must study it to the exclusion of all my Hogwarts texts. He said that I must not disappoint him again. I knew the likely penalty for disobedience. Then he told me to rejoin my friends and just left me there. When I left that basement, Bella was gone. I was so shaken that I could barely walk back to Honeydukes. My friends were waiting for me. They were very worried and the sight of me made them even more worried. I just told them how awful Bella could be. I just couldn't stop shaking. My friends bought tea for me. They walked me back to Hogwarts before the end of Hogsmeade day."

"And when did you next hear from Voldemort."

"Two days later, two books on magical engineering and one called 'The Ancient Gods and Goddesses Are To Be Feared' appeared on my bed. Nobody admitted to putting them there. I knew that I had to study them. I also knew that I had to stop meeting Professor McGonagall. A week later I got an owl. The message said that I must ask McGonagall to show me more of the spaces beneath Hogwarts. I did that. I was very careful who saw me around McGonagall. I didn't know what sort of report would go back to Voldemort and how he would react."

"You said that Voldemort had promised to visit you at Hogwarts."

"I did and he did. About a week after the owl, I found a note on my bed. It was sealed. I opened it and read 'Be at the Room of Requirement at 8 P.M. – your father'. Of course I went. Voldemort was there. The door to the room opened just as I arrived and he was there, waiting for me. He quizzed me on what I had learned from the books he gave me. When I made too many mistakes, he showed me what the Cruciatus Curse feels like. Then, with my nerves shot, he made me practice dueling spells with him. It seemed like hours, but it was only a little more than an hour. He finally said 'you must do better' and dismissed me with the command to be at the same spot in a week. This went on until Christmas break. He made me demonstrate the installation and removal of alarm and tamper spells. He taught me the 'Avada Kedavra' on various student pets. I was quizzed on Gods, Goddesses, Elves, Centaurs, and Unicorns."

"What did he tell you about the Quest and the Mother of the Future?"

"Nothing, until I went home for Christmas break. Then he told me that the Quest required me, my Muse, and 5 Witch assistants to travel from magical place to magical place, bending the resident Gods and Goddesses to my will or killing them in combat and then restoring the stone circles, which were the source of great magic. He said that if I succeeded in this Quest, that I would gain great power over the circles and that I could use that power to increase his power. He had a theory that some of the circle power could be tuned so that only he could draw power from it.

"He said he would be the Wizard King and I his very powerful daughter. He said that if I succeeded I would have a great marriage, a great future, and be worthy of him. I studied and practiced with him for twelve hours a day all through that holiday. On the last day, he told me that I needed to pick a Muse. I said I'd choose McGonagall, because she was the smartest Witch I knew. He smacked me to the ground and told me that I'd choose my sister Bella, although I knew she wasn't really my sister. He said that whichever one of my mother or me was accepted for the Quest, would choose the other as an assistant. He said he would find me four others. I asked if I could have my mother as Muse and Bella as an assistant. He said that he didn't care, but that he thought the rules forbade it. He said there was no reason that I couldn't seek guidance from my mother. I think he knew that Bella was already a little off. She also was never a student and he hadn't trained her for the Muse role. He promised to begin her training at once."

"When did you decide to drop out of the Quest?"

"Right after I finished seventh year. I had been reading and practicing continually and after the Blacks found out about McGonagall and me, I was not speaking to her at all. I only knew one of the Slytherin girls who was watching me. When Voldemort said that Margot Finche-Smith would be one of my Quest assistants, I knew that she was watching me for him. I couldn't do anything but what Voldemort wanted for the rest of term. I saw him weekly. He drilled me on what he knew about the rules of the Quest. He told me that if I completed my Quest, one of my rewards would be a special sword, which would have and amplify my own magical powers. He said that this sword was hidden at the final Quest destination. He was treating me better and better, he told me that I was ahead of my mother in my preparations and that I would surely be the one to lead the Quest."

"So, what happened to change that?"

"We went to the cave to hear the official rules and to determine if either my mother or I would be accepted as Quest leaders. Voldemort told me that one of us would lead the Quest and that the other would accompany her. If the lesser magical beings did not agree, then he would slay them on the spot and we would go ahead without their approval. He said that he knew at least half of the Quest destinations, but that if neither mother nor I were chosen, he would use the Cruciatus until the other Quest destinations were revealed…"

"Go on. What were the rules?"

She recited virtually the same rules that I already knew. The only difference was "If you are sent to Beyond and manage to return, then you may choose to either continue the Quest or to receive a neutral pardon for yourself and your team, to abandon the Quest and to make the necessary revisions to the circles you have already visited, in order to restore balance." She said she didn't understand what this meant.

"So the risk was too great and you both backed out?"

"No, I felt I had no choice but to go on the Quest. It couldn't be any worse than facing the wrath of Voldemort."

"Then what happened. Were you and your mother both rejected?"

"No, the Elf gave us both very difficult tests of magic and memory. We both passed. It said only one of us could lead the Quest and we must choose which of us it would be. Voldemort chose me. We returned to the cave two weeks later to start the Quest. Voldemort had selected two other Slytherin students and two adult Witches to add to the Quest. Bella was one of the adult Witches. They all came with me to the cave. It was in the final recitation of the rules for the Quest and the statement of rewards that Voldemort realized that a successful Quest might damage, rather than enhance, his power. There would be no dark magic to draw upon and mother and I might both be more powerful than him. We were under his control, but he feared that the Quest might somehow liberate our minds. At the last minute he told us that we would not participate. He took my mother away and sent me back to the Blacks, after making me forget all that I had learned of him and the Quest and how he expected to help us win."

"How did he expect to help you win?"

"He told me that Bella and Arcturis, she was the other adult Witch, were skilled at fighting without magic. He would destroy magic at key moments to allow us to win a battle by fighting with swords. He knew that we must travel to Durmstrang circle, the great cave of the Minotaur, the cave of the Sirens, and the Great Cave of Apep in Egypt.

"He had tricks to win each of those battles. He told me that Apep had the body of a basilisk, but was intelligent. It had been mentally chained by Set and could be commanded by a speaker of Parseltongue. He taught me Parseltongue. It is a very difficult language to learn.

"I feel that I must participate in your Quest, if you ask that of me. I am many times in your debt and also must make some amends for my family's many crimes against our community. I'm not sure I'm up to it and fear that my nerves would burden you. You must speak to Jaden. She did much more reading than I ever did and may know something that can help you. She would be a better Quest companion that I could ever be."

Well it was clear that she didn't actually want to go on the Quest. She was back to the place of fear, where her father was forcing the Quest upon her.

I didn't know what to say, so I mumbled "I don't know the secret phrase to unlock Jaden's mind. It may have to be you."

She seemed to understand, but then a gleam of hope crossed her face. She asked me what phrase had unlocked her mind. I told her. She suggested that the symmetrical phrase applied to Jaden might work. But what did Voldemort consider himself to Jaden? Master? Husband? Lover? Partner? How many tries could I make, before some alarm hidden deep in Jaden's mind wiped the knowledge for good or caused her to fall dead in front of me? Was it in any way moral for me to even make the attempt?

Narcissa had provided useful information, perhaps Jaden could as well. Was it responsible not to question her? I'd much rather have her on my Quest than Narcissa, assuming Jaden was as well-trained. She had been Voldemort's second choice, but that didn't deter me. I could well imagine Voldemort both fearing her and not trusting her. She was smarter than he was. He couldn't possibly know how much she had learned about him through their mental link. I must talk to Jaden. I would be careful not to harm her.

I wouldn't just spring the unlock phrase on Jaden as I did with Narcissa. With Narcissa, I had mistakenly believed that the surprise attack was most likely to yield success. If I was honest with myself, I'd have to admit that I disliked Narcissa so much that I had almost no concern for her welfare and hurting her would actually feel good. It had felt a little bit good, until Luna had shamed me back to concern for a fellow Witch, who despite all the harm she had done to others, had suffered quite a lot herself.

I liked Jaden. I'd treat her kindly, telling her what I planned to do, even seeking her permission. She was brave. Surely she would be up for the challenge, despite the risk. I knew from my discussions with her that she felt more than a little bit responsible for unleashing the Voldemort in Tom. She knew that her neediness had blinded her to Tom's problems for far too long. She was anxious to make amends to her community. Was I a good person, if I took advantage of her need for redemption? She was obviously still a poor wounded bird, plucked out of her proper time.

"If a golden future and even the survival of all the magical communities depend upon a successful Quest, then you must talk to Jaden," Harry urged me. "To risk your life on less than the best chance of succeeding just seems wrong to me. It can be Jaden's choice. I sensed your thoughts. She is a floundering fish out of time, who may well relish the chance to clear her mind through adventure and to clear her conscience through self-sacrifice. If I were in her position, I know that I would welcome the chance you will be offering her. Really, what else does she have? She can't even return to Hogwarts to finish her education. She's at Malfoy Manor through the power of family loyalty, Draco can barely tolerate her presence."

"Harry's right," Hermione told me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two – Jaden**

"I Am Lord Voldemort, go forth and seek on my behalf, I command you, my daughter."

That had worked with Narcissa. I think she was correct in assuming that the parallel construction of this phrase would unlock Jaden. As I struggled with the proper wording, given the massive clues which had already been handed to me, I realized how much others had already cheated on my behalf. I felt ashamed to have mistrusted Cotto and King Gobbledegook.

"I think he might still refer to himself as Lord Voldemort in dealing with Jaden," Hermione suggested. "I don't think that part of the key has changed. I'm not as sure that he would refer to Jaden as 'my love'. He had soured on her. She betrayed him and now she was his prisoner. She wasn't his sex slave, he seems to have had no further interest in her from that regard. No… love seems wrong."

"How about prisoner, or even slave," Ron suggested. "That's how he saw her, and it would reinforce his authority over her, in the same way that daughter did with Narcissa."

"True," Harry agreed, "but 'daughter' was the velvet glove over the metal fist. It suggests that he expected Narcissa to obey him out of the love or loyalty of a daughter for a father. Narcissa had no choice. She was terrified of Voldemort and she was forced to comply. Try to think of a similar, somewhat ironic, description of Jaden's relation to Voldemort."

"Wife!" Ron answered instantly. "Voldemort certainly didn't believe in equal rights for Witches. I'm sure he'd treat his wife as practically a slave. Herr Schwein was more progressive. I think that has exactly the correct shade of irony."

I felt quite sure that Ron was correct. In a perverse way, it seemed totally correct. But what if I was wrong? I didn't want to destroy Jaden, after all she had suffered. I needed an edge.

Despite my emotional reaction to rebel from what seemed to be Cotto's and Firenze's manipulation of me, my rational side knew that a lot of cheating of the rules had occurred on my behalf. Whatever their motives, they clearly wanted me to succeed with my Quest. Perhaps the Stone could be persuaded to cheat a little on my behalf. It seemed to have grown quite fond of me. I thought we trusted each other. While I was upset that the Stone kept an important part of itself locked away from me, I still viewed it as a helpful friend.

"Hermione and I need to commune with the Stone," I informed Harry and Ron. "You should go to the Ministry and tell Dad about the meeting in the cave, before he sends his aurors to drag us back. Hermione and I need to go to the chamber below the floor of the pyramid. If we want to encourage the Stone to be indiscrete and share its Quest secrets with us, I think it best to ask it while we're in the lower chamber, curled around its spine. We may even need to merge with the Stone. We may be a while. Don't worry and please don't try to contact us through the Stone, unless it is a real emergency."

The lads weren't altogether pleased, but they left. Sharing unpleasant news with Dad was definitely not the preferred assignment. I didn't know how Harry would communicate that my odds of surviving the Quest were less than two in three. How could he reveal that, without his own unhappiness and dread leaking out? It wasn't fair to Harry and Ron, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell Dad directly.

Hermione and I snuggled up against the stone and I addressed it **We need your help to plan for our Quest. We need to question Jaden, but we don't want to harm her. We think we know Voldemort's secret phrase to unlock her mind, but we may be wrong. We fear that some hidden trap in her mind will destroy her if we are wrong about the phrase. We also know that Narcissa was told slightly different Quest rules than we were and that Voldemort knew some of the Quest locations.**

The Stone was reluctant to cheat overtly. It told me that the rules existed for a purpose known to the Light Guardian and the other Gods. As a creation of the Light Guardian, it must honor that purpose. It wanted us to succeed. It craved renewed contact with the 'missing circles' and would miss contact with us, were we to perish on the Quest. It feared that without Hermione and me it might well be 'dead' for another millennia.

It certainly didn't want Jaden or Narcissa to come to harm. They were intelligent, sensitive Witches who were abominably dominated and misused by Voldemort. It promised to help us as much as it could. Hinting yes, cheating no. Did we like riddles? The Stone wasn't sure that it could create suitable riddles, but knew them to be an acceptable way to communicate that which could not be lawfully communicated. A riddle couldn't actually count as cheating, could it? It answered a few of our specific questions.

**The Quest sites vary from Quest to Quest, based on which circles need the most help and which of the old Gods and Goddesses need to have their pledges renewed. Sometimes there is the need to check on a God or Goddess, who hasn't been heard from for a time. Deaths must be recorded. The ill must be tended to. The Deepest Covenant must be renewed from time to time as the lesser Gods and Goddesses forget and shirk their duties. They are supposed to notify me that they still follow the Covenant at least once a century. **

**I've been sleeping, perhaps they tried and were unable to reach me. You will have to contact them and get them to recommit to the covenant. Since there hasn't been a Quest since Narcissa's was called off, it is unlikely the sites have changed in such a short time. Perhaps you changed the list a little when you revived me. I have no idea why all of me, the White Stone, and the original Chamber of Secrets circle would be needed. Perhaps your itinerary will be slightly different than Narcissa's would have been. I doubt more than minor changes.**

**I really don't know how I could have been involved in instructing Narcissa on her Quest, if I was sleeping. Perhaps the Keeper of the Universe can talk to me in my sleep. I asked Cotto and Firenze, they don't understand, either. They didn't know I existed as a big, black stone. There was something they talked to in a trance, sometimes. They think it must have been me. They thought it was connected to the Sacred Cavern circle. Of course, I am connected to the Sacred Cavern circle. It does have a very primitive intelligence. Perhaps it taps into me, even when I the Stone didn't know it didn't know who could possibly know. Perhaps the truth will just appear to me. **

**Yes, you have been one with me, but not one with all of me. There are parts of me, which I sense are there, but I can't see into. I don't know how much of me that is. You were inside me, did you see big holes? I hope that a successful Quest might unlock some of those parts. If so, I would be most grateful and most happy to share. I think you would just have to become one with me again. **

**Where was I? Oh yes, Voldemort's surmises were correct. I know, since I must transport the Quest team.**

**I do not believe Voldemort felt the need to place a self-destruct instruction in Jaden's mind. He was very sure of himself.**

**You should trust Cotto and Firenze. I would not be overly trusting of King Gobbledegook. He has his own schemes.**

**I am in your head and know you to be a good Witch. The Light Guardian agrees. It is a great mark in your favor that you were willing to give up two Witch assistants to add an Elf and a Goblin. That is unselfish and fully in the spirit of the Quest. I am pleased that you were allowed to keep all of your Witches in the end. No, I didn't know that until the instant before Cotto told you. I think you can safely take a Unicorn. The Light Guardian would never sacrifice a Unicorn. I don't know about a Centaur. **

**It is a good thing that you feel forced into the Quest against your wishes and for the good of your community. You approach the Quest for noble reasons. That makes you a worthy Mother. You are wrong that the rules are foolish. There are many pretenders who would make the Quest for personal gain. They must be turned away. Myth and ritual are important. The Light Guardian visits us less than once a millennium. I was dead for longer than that. Ritual is often all we have to sustain ourselves.**

**One last bit of advice: broken birds do not fly. I don't think that is a proper riddle. It is the best that I can do for now.**

That was all the Stone was wiliing to tell us. I didn't fully understand all that it did tell us. I feared that half of those I considered for my Quest could be described as broken birds.

The Stone did tell us one more thing. it said that wheedling an instrument of the Gods was unseemly and not at all the done thing. It had its orders from powers greater than ourselves. The Deepest Covenant must be abided by. No, its contents were not for our minds. I was not yet the fully-fledged Mother.

I didn't ask any more questions. I didn't want the Stone to think of me as I thought of McGonagall. Was McGonagall a broken bird or were her current flaws always a part of her? Was I not to include any broken birds on my Quest, or was I just being forewarned that their would be times when I would be forced to carry them. I didn't think a broken bird could be mended in the two weeks I had available to me.

We apparated back to Harry's and my house. Ron and Harry were sitting at our eating table, drinking Witch sherry and talking loudly. They were not at all happy and their unhappiness seemed focused upon me. A comment from my brother forced me to amend that last thought to Hermione and me.

"I take it that your meeting with Dad did not go well."

"No, it really didn't," my brother belligerently replied. "Somehow he doesn't approve of my wife and my sister setting out to kill themselves to do the bidding of the Goblin King."

"You could have told him yourself," Harry complained.

"No, we really couldn't have. He never would have let us get the whole story out and it would have been terribly awkward for him as well as us. It was far better that he learn the truth from those who are as worried for us as he is. I'm sure it made it much easier for him to give full vent to his fury."

"He certainly didn't feel constrained at all," my brother admitted. "He didn't so much commiserate with us as yell at us, as if we had made the decision that you should go on this Quest."

"I think he expected you to stop us," Hermione observed. "I thank both of you for allowing us to do what we must do."

"I think we both know that we can't possibly stop you, so we must help you as best we can," Harry told us. Clearly he was nearly as unhappy as Dad.

"So, did you learn anything from the Stone?"

"Just a little, Harry. The Stone can't cheat for us, but it wants to help. It did confirm that Voldemort's guesses of Quest locations are likely correct. The Stone was a little cryptic, but I don't think it believes we should take Narcissa. It says that King Gobbledegook is not entirely to be trusted. It doesn't think we can harm Jaden trying what we think is the triggering phrase. The Stone thinks Voldemort was too confident to bother installing destructs in Jaden's mind. That makes sense. He was always linked to her and didn't expect to die. And the Quest definitely is a Light Guardian affair, although the Stone spoke of other Gods and Goddesses and a Deepest Covenant between the Light Guardian and the lesser Gods and Goddesses. Apparently it is our job to get the shirkers to live up to their commitments to the Light Guardian."

"I don't like the idea of you and Hermione as the Light Guardian's enforcers," Ron complained.

Neither did I. Time to change the subject and get down to business. Further Quest planning needed to start with a visit to Jaden. I realized that I had no idea where Jaden was. She hadn't been at Malfoy Manor, apparently vacating the estate in advance of Narcissa's arrival.

"Do you know where I can find Jaden?" I asked Harry. "I don't have much time left to prepare for the Quest. I really need to move on from bickering to preparation. If I don't take Narcissa or Jaden as assistants, then Hermione or I need to learn Parseltongue. That will be a huge time commitment, which neither of us can afford."

"Draco told me that Jaden was temporarily living with Ostara and her parents. Neville can take us to her. He's at Hogwarts."

"Thanks, Harry. I think we really need to do this right away."

Naturally, Neville was quite happy to have an excuse to visit Ostara. He was chafing at seeing her only twice a week, including at church. Her parents liked him, but didn't want their daughter rushing into anything.

I didn't mind Neville or Ostara hearing what I had to say to Jaden, but didn't want Ostara's parents listening in. Although the parents greeted us warmly, they clearly intended for all of us to sit together in their quite large sitting room. This was not the meeting I had in mind.

{{Can you do something? I don't want to discuss this in front of Ostara's parents.}}

"This involves Ministry business," Harry told Ostara's parents. If we can borrow your guest for a little while, I think we'll just take a walk with her."

Ostara's overly-protective mother objected "poor Ansara is alone in the world. She shouldn't have to be alone, when questioned by the Deputy Minister."

This puzzled me and surprise must have shown on my face.

{Ansara is the distant cousin name that Draco and Jaden agreed she should go by.}

"Your daughter could come with us, to safeguard Ansara's interests," Harry suggested.

That was agreed. Somehow, Neville also managed to come along. Ostara's father seemed a bit upset that his wife had somehow facilitated this arrangement.

"Thanks," Neville told us. "It's becoming more and more difficult to be alone with Ostara. Yes, I know you're with us. Alone means without her father."

As soon as we had walked out of sight of the house, Neville and Ostara had their arms around each other. Then we had to stop in a quiet spot, while they had a snog. I decided that this was as good a spot as any for my conversation with Jaden.

I explained to Jaden that I believed she had hidden memories from a time when Voldemort prepared her and her mother to lead a Quest. I told her I badly needed her help on my own Quest, possibly even as a Quest participant.

"That is a big surprise to me. I am a Witch out of my time and don't see myself as much use to anyone. That's why I was content to be an anonymous nanny, to a child I thought was my own great grand-daughter. I'll do anything I can to help you. It's good to be needed. I once had a bright future, before I tied myself to Tom."

"It could be dangerous. Not just the Quest, even trying to unlock your memories could be dangerous. We don't know what safeguards Tom stuck in your mind to trigger if someone tried to pry into his secrets. A mistake could kill you. I was able to unlock your daughter's mind, but I was more certain that I knew exactly the right words. For you, I just have a good guess that the words are right."

"Do it! I'm not afraid," Jaden told me. "I have less to lose than you imagine."

I didn't like the sound of that. The retreat from Malfoy Manor seemed to have really upset her. Perhaps Ostara's parents weren't much fun to live with. Why did she pick that house to live in?

I told her the phrase which had unlocked Narcissa's mind. I suggested that 'wife' might be an appropriate substitute for daughter. She appreciated the irony and thought it likely correct. I pressed her if it REALLY felt right, because we and she might get only one try. She felt good about it. She wanted to press on with the attempt. In the back of my mind I feared that she wanted to die, without having to kill herself.

I stopped dithering and just did it. Ron's guess had been correct. Jaden had a dreamy look for about ten seconds and then returned to us.

"I remember. I don't know how I could have forgotten that and still remembered so much of my link to Tom, while I was practically comatose. You are correct. I was trained to lead a Quest, although near the end of my training, Tom decided that my daughter would be the leader and I must assist her. I think that I was more qualified, but Tom decided that I was too old to be accepted by the 'inferior magical beings'. Seventeen is the normal age to lead a Quest, although Witches as old as thirty had done so in the past. I could easily pass for thirty back then. I think Tom was afraid that some God would help the 'inferior creatures' see my true age."

"This may sound like a silly question, but did Tom teach you Parseltongue."

"Yes, he did. I take it that you know you must face Apep."

"Narcissa told me that, but how did Tom know that Apep was part of the Quest itinerary?"

"He studied any account of magical circles that he or I could find, while we were Hogwarts students. He had learned that the circles power the magic. Actually, it was I who learned of Apep. Tom was always searching for spells and potions that none of his adversaries knew about. He said that a weak curse that nobody else knew could be stronger than the 'Avada Kedavra' if sprung on an adversary by surprise. He wanted them as 'weapons in reserve'. When I say that he was always searching for new magic, what I mean is that he was always pushing me to read obscure magical texts. Tom was brilliant, but apart from Parseltongue, he had no facility for other languages. I read Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and old German. I loved ancient languages. Egyptology was a big deal in the Muggle world, so I even learned to interpret some hieroglyphs. Tom found many old books for me to study. He couldn't read a word of them."

Really, that was enough to sell me. I was convinced that I had found my fifth assistant. Hermione excitedly messaged me.

**No, I don't know those languages. The Light Guardian taught me modern French and German, but that's it. Some of the runic languages I studied at Hogwarts and the pyramid runes, which the Light Guardian did teach me, are similar to hieroglyphs, but I'm sure Jaden knows them far better than me. The only Greek I know is what I picked up from the Sirens on Lesbos. I think we need Jaden. I also think we should give her a chance to study the pyramid runes.**

Jaden had stopped talking, puzzled by my far-away look. Finally she spoke again.

"I'm not showing off to put you down, I just love old languages and runes. I also studied a little Hebrew, Aramaic, and Sanskrit. Anyhow, the point I started to make was that in this reading, I discovered talk of magic in lands that no longer seem to have magic. One spot was Greece and another was Egypt. India and the Himalayas also seemed promising. It was Tom who concluded that these areas must house dead circles. He reasoned the deader the circle and the greater the level of prior magic, the greater the likelihood that the circle would be on my itinerary. He ordered me to study the Gods and Goddesses of these areas. We would debate for hours which God or Goddess might be the guardian of the circle.

"I wasn't sure, but Tom was convinced that Apep was the God I would face in Egypt. I think he just liked Apep because Apep was as evil as he was. I think that now. Unfortunately, I didn't think that at the time. Perhaps that wasn't it. There were times when Tom's intuition was very incisive. It's like he had a deep intelligence somewhere in his mind, which he didn't normally use.

"Then he decided that I was too old to be an acceptable leader, but that I must assist Narcissa. At the time we presented ourselves at the cave, I had trained for three years, while Narcissa had trained for far less than one. She knew no language other than English. I was also needed on the Quest, because of my mental link to Tom. Narcissa didn't have that link."

"But it's Narcissa, not you, who has the horcrux in her head," Hermione exclaimed. "How could you have the stronger mental link."

"I don't know. Perhaps you had better check me for a horcrux. I'm willing to cooperate."

"Narcissa told me that in addition to Durmstrang and the Chamber of Secrets, that the Quest passes through the Minotaur cave on Crete and the Cave of the Sirens on Lesbos. Do you know of any other stops on the grand tour?"

"The Cave of the Sirens is not on Lesbos. I was unable to locate the exact location. I thought there was a cave inside Mount Olympus, where we must confront the greatest of the ancient Greek Gods. I was certain that we also were to travel to India and to Mexico and to Mount Sinai. I knew more than Voldemort. One of the books he brought me was a tale of an ancient Quest. It was written in Aramaic. By the time I translated that book, I had learned the value of keeping some secrets to myself. I saw no danger in telling him that the book had nothing new to tell me. In truth, it mentioned the stops in India, Mexico, and Mount Sinai. That Quest failed, so those sites were never visited. I was sure that they were still on the itinerary."

"Weren't you terrified of withholding information? Voldemort used the Cruciatus on Narcissa, when she slacked in her studies."

"He didn't dare use it upon me. Our mental link made that far too dangerous. The one time he tried it, I just blasted the sensations back at him. It was horrible. He just froze up, so the pain continued for both of us, until he regained his senses enough to stop his curse. I convinced him that I had done nothing. It was just a natural blowback caused by our link. Tom was much more careful around me after that. He rarely used our link again. The last time was in the cave, when we met with the Elf and Centaur. I was about to ask some more questions, when Tom appeared in my head telling me 'no, we're finished here. There will be no Quest.' Up to that moment, there was going to be a Quest, whether or not he had to kill the Elf and Centaur and Cruciatus the itinerary from them."

"What changed his mind?"

"The death of dark magic. Tom couldn't abide that. He just realized about that problem, when the Elf was speaking of all the lightness the Quest would produce. It was literally an other worldly light. I got the distinct impression that the final stop on the Quest was not on this world."

"What? Narcissa didn't speak of that at all. Wasn't she there with you the whole time?"

"She was and she wasn't. Narcissa was in a very unhappy, beaten down, prose world at the time. The Elf had spoken only plain prose. The Centaur switched to very poetic speech, of which Narcissa merely skimmed the surface. I caught the meaning and so did Tom. The Elf spoke of the fabled gardens of the stream of Okeanos. I knew this referred to Elysium. What's more, I knew that Elysium must be above ground. The rules of the Quest said that we may not set foot upon the surface of our world. Clearly, one of the stops would not be part of our world."

"I'm not sure that's possible," I babbled. "I, um the Muggle Minister's assistant destroyed the transporter. I don't think we can leave this world."

"Transporter?"

"It's a long story. It's the magical tool which will move us from place to place on the Quest. The Elf King told us that Harry and Ron could help us by bringing supplies to most of the stops on the Quest. You've just explained the exception."

"Dredging up these memories has given me a ferocious headache and, anyway, I don't think there is much else that I can tell you. Can we please take a break."

"Of course. I'm so sorry. I should have asked if you were alright. Can we meet again?"

"Of course we will meet again. I'm joining you on your Quest. I understand that you and Harry have a house. May I live with you, until we leave on the Quest?"

"Of course you can."

I couldn't have suggested a better resolution.

Although Ostara didn't think her parents would be pleased, it was clear that she would not miss Jaden.

This was quickly confirmed, when Ostara told Jaden "it's fine. I'll explain to my Mum. I'll look in on you every day. So will Neville."

"That's a good idea, as far as it goes," Harry told us, "but with just two weeks to plan and train for the Quest, the whole Quest team and its support need to live together. Our house is too small. Cissy's castle will work. Since she has to be on the Quest team, we need to involve her right away. She will need to have the most training. I know that adding Jaden puts the membership of the Quest team a little in doubt, but let's get all the likelies together. Those who aren't chosen can still help. Ginny has a lot of volunteers. Those who don't ultimately go on the Quest can still help prepare those who do Quest."

"Honestly, I had hoped to range far and wide, before I was stuck underground for who knows how long. You remember how claustrophobic Castle Montaigne became when we were quarantined there," I pleaded against Harry's very logical proposal. I knew I was being emotional, but I wanted a last fling if I was about to plod my way along to an underground death.

"Isn't that just the point, though," Harry was not to be denied. "You want to learn which members of your team can function well together in tight quarters. You need to learn who is unable to take in all the necessary skills and knowledge. You don't want to train just the bare minimum and decide the day before the Quest that you're locked into a bad choice. Leave yourself some flexibility. There is more research than just the Questers will have time to complete amidst all the training. You need to give your team every possible advantage on the Quest. The Ministry can help. If you are taking this great risk for our whole community, then certainly the Ministry must help. We have experts in all sorts of weird subjects. We have artifacts that are beyond anyone's understanding. We have aurors who have spent decades studying and perfecting combat and negotiating strategy. Please don't waste all that expertise."

"No, I won't. I do want every chance at success. That's only fair to you and Ron. The castle is too small for what you propose. We might have to meet at the Ministry."

"Way too public. We can put up tents at the castle. Experts can be brought in for short meetings. It can work."

I was surprised and pleased at how excited Harry had become. If this grand planning and training campaign could ease my husband's fears, I was all for it.

"I agree, let's do it!" Hermione announced.

Nobody objected.

"Who should we include?" Ron asked.

"You, Harry, Neville, and Percy as support," I offered. "Narcissa, Jaden, Cissy, Victoria, Mafalda, Cho, Adrienne, Ellie, Ostara, Barb, Hermione and me, and of course Catta and Tendra. We need a Unicorn and maybe a Centaur."

"You don't need to be so limited," Ron complained. "You have to include a former enemy or rival. I'd at least include McGonagall, in case you don't want to take Narcissa. Pansy might be acceptable. I think Trelawney and Professor Sprout can at least help you to prepare your team. If you are serious about Professor Celine, despite the warning that she might make your whole team unbearably sad, at least include a trained Siren to teach her more control of her emotions. If you're including Percy, you should add Callista. She's a great researcher. Don't forget Mom. And Dad. And Luna."

"I agree," I told Ron. That was an unexpectedly wise contribution from my brother. His next contribution was also right on the mark.

"With all those people, we might as well just meet at Hogwarts. That puts us right above the Stone and the Chamber of Secrets. If you are going to rebuild the circle in the Chamber of Secrets, you're also going to need a giant spider, which means you're going to need Hagrid."

There was no objection. That is what we would do. It made sense and if it kept our husbands from worrying themselves sick, that was all to the good.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three – Back At Hogwarts**

By evening, we were all settled into Hogwarts. Calling upon both body-Jaden and Narcissa, left nobody to help Draco with baby Erin, so Draco was also added to our support staff.

Dad and Percy had done most of the organizing. Dad dispatched Ellen to Lesbos to fetch Phaedra and her phoenix. Percy got everyone set up in their Hogwarts housing and gave a summary of the situation. Dad gave a pep talk to everyone.

"My daughter and her assistants are undertaking this Quest not for personal glory or gain, but for the sake of all the magical communities. That being the case, it is very appropriate that the Ministry and all of the magical communities do whatever we can to help. I will make available whatever Ministry staff and resources can conceivably help the Quest team. I am determined that this Quest succeed.

"I have equally strong commitments from Viktor, Monsieur Delacour, King Cotto, King Gobbledegook, Bane, and Unstad. These are perilous times and we are all in this together. Eliminating the source of dark magic and strengthening the good magic for all of our communities is the most important thing I can promote as Minister. The dangers of the magical imbalance are all too clear. We have had to combat Voldemort, Bruce, Ruppasta, and a Giant revolt all in far too short a time. We've dealt with Thicknesse and Delores Umbridge. That's a lot of trouble in a year. It can't be merely coincidence.

"The magical force is troubled. Just look at all the strange students who have been showing up at Hogwards. Several years' worth of 'special cases' in just several months. The magical imbalance has led to dangerously imbalanced minds and that must stop. With the Muggles all too aware of our existence and strange new magics, like the Spencer twins popping up, an increase in the number of magical beings is all to the good. I look forward to seeing our numbers greatly increased if the Quest is successful. There is safety in greater numbers."

King Gobbledegood, Firenze, Bane, and Cotto also spoke of the importance of the Quest and their dedication to its success. Unstad pledged to help us and told us that he had found a Unicorn volunteer named Pegasus.

"She is a very young Unicorn, only twenty years of age. She is most appropriately named for this venture, wouldn't you say? I will lead Ginny to meet her tomorrow."

McGonagall pledged the full support of the Sisterhood in support of "this dangerous Quest, which must be undertaken only by magical females." I saw that in line with these words, she had taken it upon herself to assemble her full executive committee. Dad at least seemed pleased to have Prudence on hand.

Dad turned to me, saying I knew what I needed and should hand out assignments. Since I had been giving this some thought, it didn't really put me on the spot.

I said that I needed Hagrid to recruit whatever help he needed and go negotiate with Aragog's clan. We needed the stones from their cave and I needed to know whether a young female spider wished to participate in the Quest. Hagrid might then consider what other animals, beyond the two phoenixes, a couple owls, and Cruikshanks could profitably travel with us.

I needed Hermione's Dad, Dad, and Ellie to think about what Ministry and Muggle devices we should carry with us, to deal with both magical and non-magical fights and perhaps to trade for favors.

Phaedra had to teach Adrienne better emotional control and the two of them could research and summarize what I needed to know about the Cave of the Sirens and Sirens in general.

Cho could call upon Viktor and any other Durmstrang resources to learn more about what we were likely to encounter at the Durmstrang circle. What were the strengths, weaknesses, and desires of Odin? Why had he turned against the Valkyrie and how did Frau Schwein learn of that spat?

The Delacours could assemble what I needed to know about the Paris catacombs and circle. This circle had been partially repaired, but was not operating all that smoothly, with sporadic lapses of magic occurring throughout France and one truly frightening case of a thirtyish Witch suddenly developing a rather advanced set of dark magical skills, with which she terrorized the Muggles of Lyon, before the Paris Ministry captured her. Since the Paris circle was humming along when Voldemort abandoned Narcissa's Quest, it might represent a change in the itinerary from that time. I also needed to know all they could learn about any Gods or Goddesses associated with the Paris area.

I followed the same approach in dividing the world into areas of responsibility. Callista and Percy would research the Americas, focusing upon Mexico. Harry and Ron would study Egypt. Dad would tap Ministry resources to learn about possible circles as well as Gods and Goddesses of the Levant. Was there reason to suspect a dead magical circle under Mount Sinai?

Professors Trelawney and McGonagall would take India and the Himalayas. Neville and Ostara would focus upon Mount Olympus and the Greek mainland in general. Crete went to Barb, Ellen, and Cissy. Margaret and Madam Bones would research Elysium. Draco, Luna, and Prudence would research the rest of the world, considering where circles might be and what Gods or Goddesses might be associated with them.

Jaden would supply language assistance as needed, when she wasn't helping Hermione and me.

That left Professor Sprout to research and make suitable potions for us to take. I wanted to be able to bathe in liquid luck. Mom would research the certainly esoteric and likely nonexistent subject of spells and curses that had some historic success against the lesser Gods and Goddesses. Even a spell which caused a temporary distraction could be of great value to us.

The Goblins would start assembling the magical engineering tools and tricks we would need. They might know something Ron didn't. I could plug into Ron during the Quest. The Unicorns, Elves, Goblins, and Bane would also search their lore for missing circles and Gods and Goddesses that might own them. I was certain that all of those communities must have ancient Gods and Goddesses they had never told us about.

I asked Firenze if he could help me.

"I can't give you secrets from my Quest knowledge, but I can help you with general research," he replied.

I think I surprised him with "in that case, I want you to contact the whales. I may need their computational powers, as well as their memories. I assume their song carries as well underground as it does through the air. I also assume that as part of the Quest, my team is allowed to apparate beneath the ocean."

Firenze assured me that this was all possible and that he would happily make the necessary arrangement. That reminded me to ask him to also talk to the merpeople. It also reminded me to ask Hermione's Dad to work on a way for us to survive under the ocean for several hours at a time.

This also reminded me to make a note that my team and I must establish many apparation targets, before we left on the Quest. Certainly the area of the whale pod, the mer-lake, any suitable underground cave in the land of the Giants, and all of the circles and caves we knew about. Any underground structure known not to be under the control of an ancient God might serve as a handy safe retreat.

Hermione and I would begin with a more minute mining of Jaden's and Narcissa's Quest memories and then try to determine what information from the other teams was of most value to us. I wanted the Aramaic text, which Jaden told me had described an earlier Quest. Perhaps the details could be pried from Jaden's mind.

I wanted any Quest legends from any of the magical peoples. If something was in writing all the better. Hermione suggested searching Muggle legends, since so many of them had been committed to paper. Dad suggested that Erin's father could help. I wasn't fond of the man, but I was willing to accept his expert assistance. Hermione's Dad knew a professor of classics at Oxford, who liked to study this sort of old legends. He felt the story of Homer was based in fact, but from fact much older than the Homer of legend.

It was a very pleasant afternoon, so Hermione and I led Jaden to a big shade tree deep in the Hogwarts grounds and out of sight of the castle. We had blankets to lie upon, bottles of Witch sherry and a bottle of port from Goblanze, as well as a large picnic basket. We wanted Jaden to be comfortable and well lubricated, while we plumbed the depths of her mind.

Jaden was in excellent spirits as we walked across the grounds. Perhaps she didn't realize that we planned to question her about the minutia of her Quest memories. Perhaps that simply didn't bother her as much as I feared it would. Jaden quickly explained.

"It's good to get out into the fresh air and the sun. I've had far too little of that in recent decades. I was never big on crowds and find I tolerate them less well than I did during my first tenure at Hogwarts. Repeatedly waking up in that dank basement with just myself or myself and Tom accustomed me to solitude. It also gave me a dislike of dank places."

That certainly didn't bode well. Jaden had not described a person likely to prosper on a month's long underground quest with ever-present compatriots in close corners and inescapable dank. Despite the bright, cheery day, my heart sank as I heard these words. To me, what Jaden had said was 'I might be an even worse choice for you than my daughter.'

Looking at Hermione, I saw that she had come to the same conclusion. Mother and daughter felt honor bound to help us, but neither wanted to join the Quest. It reminded both of them too much of Tom Riddle, but also it just didn't suit their personalities to be especially close to me or the other likely Quest participants. Both would need considerable jollying over the months of the Quest. I didn't know any other female who spoke Parseltongue.

Well, I did a little – enough to protect myself that day in herbology and to turn Mr. Frakes' prank against himself. I might have to be my own Parseltongue expert, although I was sure that if she fully unpacked her Light Guardia memories that Hermione knew as much Parseltongue as I did. Either of us could brush up on it, likely with the help of the Stone. That would work if we had a few more months to prepare for the Quest, but we just didn't. Did I know enough to deal with Apep, if I had a mental link to Harry and Mr. Bulstrode was standing at Harry's elbow? If it came to a truly dicey situation, was I willing to bet all our lives on the helpfulness of Mr. Bulstrode? I might have to, but that thought chilled me on this sunny day.

I blurted "Goblins are very good at languages. Do you think you could teach Parseltongue to Tendra?"

Jaden jumped at this like a condemned woman seeing a possible reprieve from imminent death. "I'm sure I could teach her. I found that I had a talent for teaching things to Tom. I doubt Tendra will need a huge vocabulary. Yes! I'll start tomorrow. I promise you that Tendra will be ready to speak to Apep."

That was certainly clear enough. Jaden clearly didn't see Tendra as a possible fill-in for herself in the unlikely chance that she developed laryngitis just before we reached Egypt. If her mood had been upbeat as we left the castle, it was now ebullient, with as broad and happy a smile as I had seen on her face since forever. I feared it would be very rough, and likely a teary experience, when I was forced to tell her that she needed to go on the Quest. Could I even do that? Could I do that to Narcissa?

I definitely needed to introduce Jaden to the Stone. She was a store of knowledge, some of which she didn't even realize that she possessed. At minimum, I needed a mental link to her. As I mused upon that to Hermione, body-Jaden was enthusiastic. Although Jaden had volunteered for the Quest, I was quite sure I had less than a true volunteer seated beside me. I would have to look elsewhere. I told her that I had to at least keep her as a reserve.

She reminded me that she had volunteered, that she would participate if asked, and that she was more than happy to be listed as a reserve. I couldn't ask for any more than that.

As we walked back to the castle, Hermione messaged me **What about harcrux Jaden? She likely doesn't have body-Jaden's fear of basements. Apart from the details of Slughorn's participation in the kidnapping, she has all the knowledge of body-Jaden. There may well be a non-Stone mental link between the two of them, which might help us.**

That was a really good idea. A harcrux might have special value on the Quest. I wondered if she could shield herself within her old amber relic. That might be a neat trick for escaping an angry God. Suddenly I realized: not so good an idea. Harcrux Jaden hadn't received Quest training. I would check with her to confirm that my surmise was correct, but I was quite sure it was. I wouldn't tell Hermione until I had confirmed with Harcrux Jaden. Hermione must be feeling stressed. This was an unusual error for her to make.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four – Spiders and Old Rocks**

Hagrid moved quickly to assure the cooperation of Aragog's clan. He had obtained the lead spider's agreement for a young female named Aagog to participate in the Quest. He had obtained their promise of help to identify and unearth all of the stones of the ancient Hogwarts Circle, which were now largely covered in soil, spider dung, bones, and other detritus. Most importantly, he had negotiated a no-biting agreement. I had been worried about reaching agreement with the spiders. They had one meeting, but never agreed to participate fully on Hermione's committee, saying meeting summaries were perfectly adequate. I think that they were as uncomfortable around us as we were around them.

Hagrid explained that many of the meetings seemed to be randomly held at Hogwarts and that the Aragog clan still remembered the basilisk and were unconvinced that there were no remaining basilisks at Hogwarts. Nobody had bothered to apparate them to the other sites. They could have come to Cissy's castle, through their own tunnel, but were unsure of their welcome.

Hermione replied "oops!"

If old memories of the basilisk were such a great problem, I wondered what Aagog would make of Apep. From what Hermione had taught me, Apep was truly a serpent to be reckoned with.

If Aagog had any personal say in joining the Quest, she was one very brave spider. Hagrid said that she wanted to meet us right away. No-biting agreement or not, I was not looking forward to a visit to the Aragog cave. Happily, Hagrid had arranged a more gradual introduction at his hut for the four of us. Hagrid was very understanding about Ron's fear of spiders and equally understanding that Ron didn't want this mentioned.

Neville suggested that as headmaster, it was long past time for him to become more familiar with the spider community. They had at least tolerated Dumbledore and he wanted at least as good a relationship with them. I don't share Ron's fear of spiders, but I was still hoping that Aagog would be a smallish spider. I would have to sleep with her night after night, and even for one without Ron's terror of spiders, that could prove daunting. I also was hoping for a spider small enough to be able to explore and hide in tiny passages.

As we neared Hagrid's hut, I got a shock as I eyed the most enormous spider I had ever seen. She had to be a good six feet wide in the body, with twelve foot long legs. She towered above us as we approached and caused such a ripple of fear to pass through my body, that my right hand sought out my wand of its own accord.

I tried to look brave, friendly, and totally unafraid. I stopped when Hagrid stopped and waited for Hagrid to make introductions. It was then that I realized that the spider was repeating a sing-song chant, which I could barely make out. As the noise of our walking stopped, in the still air I understood what she was chanting.

"Must not bite, must not bite, must not bite…"

Wonderful.

Hagrid broke the silence. "This is Aragag. She's Aagog's mother. Aragag, these are my friends Ginny and Harry Potter, Hermione and Harry Potter, and Neville Longbottom. You should have already been introduced to Neville. He's the new headmaster. That's on me."

"Hello, humans," Aragag's voice was louder and deeper than I expected. "I come to present my daughter Aagog for your Quest and to invite you to examine the stones in our cave."

She presented a hand for us to shake. We each reached out and shook it. Ron shook before he even touched Aragag's hand.

Noticing Ron's fear Aragag spoke to him. "Do not fear. I tell myself, must not bite. If I think that over and over, I not bite."

Aragag reached behind her with one leg, dragging out a bludger-sized spider on foot-and-a-half legs. "This is Aagog. She stay with you after we visit cave."

Aragag turned and scurried into the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid and the rest of us followed her. Part of the problem with the spider cave is that it is located in the darkest and creepiest part of the forest. We were following paths which I had never traveled with the Centaurs. A little while longer and we were on a path which I was trodding for the first time.

There was almost a clearing – basically a grouping of dead trees, which allowed a little sunlight to reach the ground. It was enough light to make out the entrance to the cave.

"My family not be offended if you use your light sticks to see cave," Aragag assured us.

I think my companions were as eager as I was to have a wand in their hands. Even Hagrid had a wand. I heard him shout "Lumos!" as he followed mother and daughter into the cave. The rest of us made a bright a 'Lumos' as we could. We were quite good at this and the cave became bright enough that we could see into its farthest shadows at the sides of this very large cave. We couldn't see the rear of the cave, even though we were able to see close to fifty feet into it. The side walls were a good thirty feet across, once we got beyond the entryway.

Aragag's family were politely keeping their distance from us. The light from our wands seemed to catch them by surprise and most of them drifted deeper into the cave. I did what I hoped was an inconspicuous glance upward to confirm that none of her clan were hanging above us. They really were being polite.

Aragag went straight for the left wall of the cave. She pointed as she spoke "big stone, big stone, big stone, little stone…"

We were forced to travel deeper into the cave that I would have preferred, in order to see all the stones. The spiders had done an excellent job clearing the debris from the bases of the stones. I didn't know how many stones had comprised the circle, but I counted a total of fifteen. There were six large stones of about ten foot height and nine smaller stones of six foot height. That seemed wrong. If the circle we needed to re-create was at all like the other circles I had seen, the larger stones should be on the outside and should be more numerous than the inner stones – equal in number at the very least, especially since the shorter stones were almost as wide at their bases as the tall stones.

"Are there other tall stones?" I asked Aragag. "Given the number of short stones, I expected at least three more of the tall ones."

"Stones have been lost over the ages," Aragag told me. She pointed to a hearth in the center of the cave, a little deeper than we had traveled.

I approached the hearth, which brought me quite close to several good size spiders. One of them kept repeating "Hagrid says 'do not bite', Hagrid says …" At least none of them was saying "eat the plump Witch."

"Tall stones make fire holder," Aragag pointed. "Need when cold."

I examined the hearth closely. Clearly several large flattish stones had been broken lengthwise and used to construct the hearth. I thought five stones had been sacrificed to this purpose – possibly a sixth, although not all of that stone had been used.

"We're short five stones," I told the gang. "These can't be repaired. I want a closer look at what we've got."

As I turned to walk back to the surviving stones, I noticed both that Hermione and Ron were already inspecting them and that some of the larger spiders were trailing after me.

{[calm] Don't look back. They don't appear hostile. Only three of the spiders are following you and they're keeping their distance.}

I calmly approached Hermione.

"The large ones are basalt. The short ones are very dirty calcite. You can see it better, where I cleaned a spot on this one. They look like they are in good condition. I didn't see anything that looks like the central lodestone. Did you?"

No, I hadn't.

I called out "Aragag," to get her attention. "There should be a very large, squarish black rock. Do you know where we might find it?"

Of course she pointed deep into the depths of the cave. The cave narrowed as we went deeper, being only twenty feet wide. We had to pass beside a long line of spiders. Here there were spiders above us. I didn't think they were being aggressive or that they meant us harm, there simply was nowhere else for them to be. More than one was chanting some version of not eating or biting us. I was grateful that neither Harry nor Ron could understand spider-talk. I thought Hermione was doing extremely well. She showed no outward signs of the fear which I was feeling.

Hagrid led us through the cave. Saying hello to a few of the spiders, whom we passed. He stopped in front of a ginormous spider, who was leaning against a very large black rock at the end of the cave.

This is Agog, our leader," Aragag introduced us.

"This is our sacred rock," Agog told us. "We know it important to magic. You may have if we can visit four times each year for big ceremony."

Since the circle was going to be inside the Chamber of Secrets, which was almost a part of Hogwarts, I thought Neville needed to have a say in the matter. I translated for Neville and the rest of our gang. I knew that Aragog used to speak to Hagrid in English, but Agog either didn't speak English or chose not to.

Neville told me to translate back, "of course they can visit their sacred stone. Please thank them for lending it to us. We'll show them the path to the Chamber of Secrets."

I relayed that message. Agog stepped away from the lodestone, with the spider-talk message "Agreed. You may take sacred stone."

I was relieved that we had completed our business and were able to make our way out of the cave, even though we walked in a sandwich, with Aragag leading us out, while Agog followed closely behind us. At least Agog wasn't chanting.

Aragag and Agog walked all the way to Hagrid's hut with us. They lingered there for a farewell to Aagog. I heard endearments, entreaties to be safe, but also a demand to "protect the interests of our people, do not humiliate us, be a good spider, and learn all that you can from these other people. You must not bite them."

I told Aragag and Agog that Harry and Ron would be able to maintain contact with us during most of the Quest. They could pass messages back and forth to Aagog. There also might be ways in which the spiders could help us as we made our Quest.

Agog asked "How we can do this help?"

I admitted that I didn't know, but that opportunities were likely to arise. I already knew that the spiders had very little magic and were not able to apparate. If they were going to travel to almost any of the Quest locations, someone would have to apparate them. It might be a hindrance to the Quest, but I was quite glad that the spiders couldn't apparate themselves. That would truly be the stuff of nightmares.

Back at the castle, we were joined by the rest of the potential Questers and our helpers. They were all introduced to Aagog. We took turns filling in the details of the Quest for Aagog's benefit. Her parents had given her just the barest details of the Quest. When we were finished, I asked if she had any questions.

She wanted to know how she could travel to the far-away places I had described. I told her that we would all be transported by the black stone. She wanted to see the Stone.

Hermione and I led her to the Gryffindor landing and then transported her inside the pyramid. I asked her for a limb, grabbed hold of it, and apparated us atop the Stone. Aagog marveled at its smoothness and warmth. She splayed out her legs and splatted her body flush against the stone.

"Will the Stone talk to me?" she asked me.

I admitted that I didn't know if that was possible. This led to Hermione and I spending several hours introducing Aagog to the Stone. The Stone did speak to her. She was able to message me through the Stone. I was able to make a special spider-ring which allowed her to open the sliding metal doors inside and outside the pyramid. Perhaps it was my own prejudice and fear, but I made her ring cancellable. It would be an easy matter for me to approach each door and instruct it to reject the spidey-ring, if I decided that was the appropriate course to take. I don't know why I hadn't done that with any of the other rings. I thought I could neutralize the other rings, if I really worked at it, but I wasn't sure.

As we showed Aagog the Stone and explained a bit about it, we also asked questions to learn as much as we could about her. How old was she? Had she ever been apart from her family? What did she eat? What skills did she have which might profit our Quest? What did she want to gain from the Quest? Was she at all magical? What could we do if she fell ill? Was she frightened about joining our Quest? Did she have special needs which required us to add to our list of supplies to carry with us?

Aagog told us that she was three years old. She might reasonably expect to live to twenty-five. The spiders did not become ill, until they were near the very end of their lives. They might suffer from not enough food or water, too much heat, too much cold, too bright a light. Rapid changes in the magical force might make her wobbly and unable to stand, but would cause no permanent harm. She feared snakes. She had never been apart from her family but was unworried by the thought of a long separation. She had been with family, because that is where the cave was. She knew of no other communities of her kind. Her kind were limited to that cave.

She ate meat. She could eat dead meat, if need be, if it were sufficiently juicy. She needed daily water. If she had to fight, she would bite. She had a little magic. Magic allowed the spiders to think. The stronger the magic, the more intelligent she became. She could sense the presence of a God. She knew the Light Guardian had been present in the Sacred Cavern. Her people could predict the coming of the Goddess of Hogwarts when she was still miles and minutes away. She had been here a dozen years ago, at the edge of the forest. No, she wasn't a spider. She looked as we looked, only older.

We coaxed out a few talents. Legend said that in the age of the circle of their stones being active, that spiders could repair and tune the circle. They could spin a web, which served in place of the silver lattices of today. She thought that her kind had connected some of the earliest circles. That is what legend said. She said that she was also very good at curling up into a ball and hiding. She could change color to better hide from those who would do her harm. She was able to lure small animals to come to her, so that she could conveniently bite them. How? She wished that they would approach her and they did. Yes, she could catch prey in a web, but that took way too much effort. Yes, she could securely bind captive. She could shoot a rope to the ceiling and climb it. She could weave a little boat to float on a rivulet or through the air from a height. She could climb anything. She could mark a trail. She could smell out the path taken by any animal. She could sense the presence of even immobile beings at up to a thousand yards. She felt she could do many things to help the Quest.

I agreed that she could help us.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five – Where Can We Get Replacement Stones?**

Planning continued over dinner at Hogwarts. It was summer, so it was back to Asian food. Tonight we had naan bread with a collection of vegetable and meat curries – both yellow and red curries of varying degrees of hot. I enjoyed them all. The Elves provided some raw beef for Aagog. Tendra stuck with the naan and the vegetarian curry. Everyone had apple cider and Witch sherry. Our whole gang was in a good mood.

A lot of progress had been made in my absence. There were piles of food, gear, and devices for us to consider packing for the Quest or to have sent on ahead of us. Folders were being prepared on each likely circle location, along with everything my researchers could find about the Gods and Goddesses associated with these places. The Goblins were creating files on any God or Goddess mentioned in their lore as well as any hint of magical circles from the days when Goblins inhabited more of our world than they do today. The Elves and Centaurs were recording pertinent information from their history and legend. Firenze was working separately from the other Centaurs, trying to make a summary for me of the information possessed by the Cetaceans, which he felt was unknown to the magical beings.

Harry asked Hermione, "what's the best way to handle all of this information, so that it can help you on the Quest?"

"As long as you and Ron can communicate with us, you can tell us what we need, as long as everything is properly organized so that you can find it quickly. We might be able to have the Stone store some of it for us. I know that if I read through it, I can likely remember a lot of the important stuff. I just don't know that I'll have time to read most of what is being recorded."

"You all know that I can read it and remember it," Body-Jaden told us. I know you are excusing me from the Quest, become of my fear of dank basements and crowds. I'll just have to work on that. I did as much as anybody to create Voldemort and I owe our community a lot of recompense for that misdeed. I was needy and selfish and a lot of other people paid an even bigger price than I did for my actions. I'd still be trapped in that basement or dead, if you hadn't rescued me. I am just going to have to pull myself together and do my bit on the Quest. It is a debt I must repay and certainly the most useful thing I can do with the rest of my life. My secret will come out. I'll be a shunned outcast when it does. Perhaps if I am a Quest hero, that will offset my misdeeds and I'll be accepted."

"You don't have to do this," I assured her. "You were Tom's first victim. At least most of our community will realize that and want to help you."

"No, I don't think they will." Jaden successfully staved off her tears. "I have no choice but to do this. My future depends upon it. If I abandon the Quest, I will just hate myself as a coward for however many years I have left."

"My mother may be able to help you with your fears," Hermione told Jaden.

Mrs. Granger said she was most willing to help. Adrienne said she would practice cheering Jaden. I thought it just might work to include Body-Jaden.

There's something we need to check, and we should introduce you to the Stone, we told Jaden. Hermione picked a magical force line viewing device off one of the piles, as we went off with Jaden. As we apparated into the pyramid from the Gryffindor landing, I waited until we were all comfortable and Hermione had Dumbledore's viewer pointed at Jaden. I asked the Stone to turn off the lights inside the pyramid.

"She doesn't have a horcrux," Hermione quickly reported.

I turned the lights back on.

"I'm not at all surprised," Jaden told us. "Tom feared I was linked to Harcrux-Jaden and that it would be dangerous to him to try to put a horcrux in me. I think he had also reached the point where he couldn't split himself again, without risking destruction of his mind. Until he had the idea of entering me in the Quest, I think he was quite sure that I would never leave that basement. It would have been pointless to waste a horcrux on me. Narcissa was the far wiser choice. He needed to track her as she went about the world."

"Those were my thoughts as well," Hermione admitted, but we had to be sure. "Next thing to consider: do you have a link to Harcrux-Jaden and can you hide inside her relic?"

"I can establish a bit of a link, if I try very hard. If we deliberately work together to set up a link, we can keep it active over a fair distance, without a lot of work to keep it going. I doubt I can hide in that amber relic. I'm not a harcrux. Now that you've stabilized her in a physical form, I doubt that Harcrux-Jaden could pull off that trick, either. I promise that I will ask her to try and that we will work on our ability to link. Perhaps you should introduce both of us to your Stone."

"I plan to do exactly that," I told her. "By the way, do you have a link to Narcissa?"

"No I don't. What link to her existed was through Tom. I've sensed nothing since I was awakened by you. I've stood right next to her, I've hugged her, I haven't felt a thing."

"From what you know of Narcissa, do you think that we can trust her? Beyond that, will the horcrux be a problem?"

"I don't know. This just slightly touches on what I studied for Tom. With Voldemort dead, his remaining horcrux should diminish."

"He also has the remnants of his unplanned Hagrid horcrux. That apparently has been dwindling away."

"It may have been just the smallest piece of Tom, if it was both unplanned and the last horcrux. It would have to be weak, otherwise Tom would have had his two horcruxes and Harry wouldn't have been able to kill him. At least that's the way that I understood it and explained to Tom."

"But what does it mean to not be able to kill him? Voldemort was reduced to an almost nothing parasite, when he tried to murder baby Harry. He had all his horcruxes then. Surely, even with almost two horcruxes, Harry could have as good as killed him in that final duel."

"I do take your point. The horcrux doesn't prevent the body from being destroyed. It saves the mind and the soul. The more horcruxes that exist, the easier to save the mind and soul, even if the body is killed or reduced to near nothingness. Probably the more horcruxes, the more of the body that will survive an 'Avada Kedavra'. That's what first did in Tom. A rebounding 'Avada Kedavra' is almost as lethal as the direct curse. I remember warning Tom of that."

"But you're saying a little bit of Tom could have survived that final duel. Where would he have gone?"

"Perhaps into Narcissa's horcrux. He might be the tiniest parasite within her. Or, perhaps that is where his ghost came from. A ghost is a parasite of the soul. Like the Dementors, it doesn't need physical nourishment, so there is no need to attach itself to a physical body. Consider it a very good thing that you killed that ghost."

"Believe me, I am most pleased that we did that. Speaking of horcruxes, you had a harcrux. I guess you still have a living, breathing harcrux. Does that make you harder to completely destroy?"

"I don't know. I probably am stronger because of Harcrux Jaden. I still believe it takes two to provide real protection."

I thought it might be wise to bring Jaden's amber cup along on the Quest. If she were sort of killed, that's where the residual Jaden might hide. It was at least something to discuss with Hermione.

I made a ring for Jaden. She hugged the Stone in the lower chamber, while I cycled the transporter on and off. She said that she had achieved a slight rapport with the Stone. She was able to communicate through the Stone. I introduced her as a member of the Quest team.

The Stone was actually surprised, reminding me that I had described all of the recent persons I had introduced as 'possible members of the Quest team, who need to communicate with you in order to train for the Quest.'. I guess I truly had made my final decision on Jaden. Now I just had to work, and have others work, to keep her cheery and to get her past her fear of dank.

As I lay in bed with Harry that night, exhausted after a most glorious romp, I asked him for his honest opinion about Jaden. "Is it fair to include her on the Quest? She has so much knowledge and is as smart as Hermione, but she has a dread of spending months in caves and caverns and other environs beneath the earth."

"You must take her, if she increases the chances of success. You and Hermione aren't eager to go on the Quest. You'd rather fly for the Harpies and live in our new house."

"Yes, I'm doing it as a duty. I didn't volunteer to be the Mother, and I certainly am not looking forward to this Quest. By I am not suffused with dread as Jaden is. I don't expect a pleasant time, but I am very sure that I can force myself to endure and survive it. If anything, Hermione is less eager than I am."

"So, if she is of value to you, it is only fair that she undertake the Quest," Harry concluded. That was that. I still needed to find a way to help Jaden cope with her dread.

The topic of breakfast was the search for replacement stones. They would have to be basalt, like the other tall stones. Since the stones we had still bore the signs of residual magical activity, it seemed unreasonable to just choose any old hunks of basalt. Basalt that had once been a part of an active magical circle seemed the best approach to me.

"I'm not convinced that you need any more stones than you already have," Ron complained. "It will be a big effort to get more stones. If you don't need them, that's a lot of wasted time. Magic was doing just fine with just the two circles in London and the one in the Sacred Cavern. Now you've tuned up the Eire circle, and added the pyramid circle. You also have the White Stone under Azkaban, which you can use to balance the other circles. It seems we have too many circles in Britain and that is the source of the current problems."

"I think Ron is right," Harry told me. "Another big circle under Hogwarts is too much. Even using all the stones you already have may be too much. Are you convinced that you need more?"

I wasn't and I admitted as much. "I don't want to fail from a lack of stones. If we don't use them in the Chamber of Secrets, we may need them at one of the other circles. I want calcites in reserve also, and tourmalines, and spodumenes, and big lodestones, and diamonds. Remember, you can't supply us with diamonds after we leave. We have to carry them with us. I also want some of the polished quartz cylinders to replace the ones atop the lodestones, if I encounter badly damaged circles. And silver… I want lots and lots of silver."

"That's going to be expensive," Dad complained. "Our budget can't cover much of that. I'll do what I can. We may have to steal some of what you need."

"Stonehenge!" Hermione shouted. "If we're stealing stones, let's borrow stones from Stonehenge and replace them with ordinary replacement stones. With Witch sculpture, we can make perfect copies, except they won't have residual magical power. The Muggle government won't be able to tell the difference. The Stonehenge bluestones are a sort of basalt, which will suit our needs. We can inspect them, but I'm sure they're magical."

Dad was shocked by this proposal. "Tony will be furious if he learns of this. I won't risk that for something that you see as only a fallback. Can't you just make the copies and leave Stonehenge alone, unless you have no other alternative?"

That seemed reasonable. I told Dad that Hermione and I would inspect Stonehenge as soon as it was dark enough to use the viewers. It was foolish to build our plans around such sensitive stones as those of Stonehenge, if they weren't actually magical. I shared Hermione's gut feeling that they were indeed magical. I knew for certain that they had been magical four millennia ago. My Light Guardian memories said that Stonehenge had been an active circle.

It had been the only magical circle in Britain which wasn't underground. That was the big reason it was taken out of service and hadn't been active for three millennia. There were too many Muggles in the land and the silver wires between the rocks would have been stolen. The magical peoples weren't strong enough to ensure protection of the circle. If an attacker could damage the silver wires, magic would fail and the defenders would lose most of their strength. It had been too great a risk and Stonehenge had been abandoned. I didn't know if any detectable magic remained after this long a passage of time.

I worked very hard all day, but it was indoor scholarly work. I practiced Parseltongue with Mr. Bulstrode. I quickly learned that I knew more Parseltongue than I had realized. I picked it up quickly, as if a door inside my mind had been thrown open. After three hours, I decided that my facility with that language of the snakes was more than adequate.

I read summaries of the Gods and Goddesses of India, Tibet, and China. They had many Gods as well as exotic magical and other beasts which I had not known of. If we could guess which animals we might encounter on the Quest, I wondered if Hagrid could obtain specimens for us to practice with. I knew he wouldn't allow us to kill them, but just observing how they approached and attacked would give us slightly better odds against them.

I would sleep with my rings on my wand and my wand against my skin from now until the start of my Quest. I did not want to shut out any possible source of information. Hermione must do the same. If either of us dreamed of a particular beast, I would talk to Hagrid about it. I had no idea how he'd find whatever beastie was needed, but he found so many other strange creatures which should have been next to impossible to procure.

After my day of mental labor, the chance for a night flight to Stonehenge seemed like a blessing. We could apparate to within forty miles of our destination and travel the rest of the way by broom. With luck, we would be able to detect magical activity without landing.

Ron, Harry, George, and Luna wanted to travel with us. Bill and Barb insisted they come with us. At the last minute I decided to ask Jaden to join us. I hoped that a brisk broom flight would have the same cleansing effect for her ill humor that it invariably had when I was overcome by the black dog. Jaden hesitated for just a second and then accepted.

"I really do want to fly with you, I'm just not sure how rusty my broom skills are. I didn't play Quidditch, so I was never a great flier. I really do want to fly with you, I just don't want to hold you back."

I told her we'd all manage together quite well. Hermione apparated us to an empty field and we mounted our brooms and pushed off into the night sky.

We knew the exact location of our destination. With Umbridge dead, there was no need to scan the ground between us and Stonehenge. Nor did I feel a need to scan for attackers. They'd need a really heavily magicked position for us to spot them from the air and I just couldn't imagine whom 'they' might be. The greatest concern was being spotted by Muggles.

That dictated fly high and fly fast. That also completely suited my mood. The quick dash to Stonehenge was exhilarating, in a way that even Quidditch couldn't be. It was flying with a complete sense of freedom and peace. Since I wasn't the Seeker for the Harpies, I didn't even get to dive during a match at the sort of speed I was traveling at now. It was simply glorious.

We soared over the stones at a thousand feet. Neither the Dumbledore nor the Goblin detector picked up any activity, despite the nearly moonless dark. We flew in a big half circle as we dropped to five hundred feet for a second pass. Luna thought she saw a little rosy glow through the Dumbledore detector.

"Just a little lower," Hermione begged Bill. Bill accepted a descent to three hundred feet. On this pass Hermione thought that she also saw a bit of a glow and Luna was very certain that she detected the presence of magic.

We landed right in the middle of the stones. The stones shielded us from view, but we determined to move fast. Luna and Hermione moved in opposite directions around the circle. They each detected only two stones with signs of residual magic.

"But it's an unexpectedly large residual," Hermione declared. "A lot more magic than should be here after three thousand years. Somebody has used the stones a lot more recently than that."

"Perhaps somebody else borrowed them as we plan to do," I suggested.

"Perhaps."

Hermione apparated us back to Hogwarts. As we left the Gryffindor apparation pocket, Hermione complained.

"We need to set up a Ravenclaw apparation pocket. I find myself returned almost daily to the common room I vowed never to set foot in again. I'll work on that tomorrow."

"Thank you so much, that really brightened my mood," Jaden effused, as we party ways to return to our lodgings.

I ran after her. "Fix that flight in your mind. When you find yourself becoming gloomy and pressed in upon by the walls, recall it to your mind and smile."

I wondered if it would be possible to bring the Pensieve on our Quest. Hermione did have her magic bag. Perhaps we all needed one. What would happen to them if magic failed? Since magic had been failed through the efforts of Ruppasta, I had to remember to ask Hermione what had become of her magic bag during that episode.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Six – Adjusting My Plans

Hermione knew where the bluestones of Stonehenge had been quarried and wanted to send a party to obtain some large slabs for us to Witch sculpt.

"They're from Carn Doegog in Wales," Hermione excitedly told us. "I got up early this morning and did a quick trip to a Muggle library. You need to send a party to harvest rock tonight. We'll have time to sculpt it to match some of the Stonehenge stones."

Professor Celine overheard what Hermione said. She had a better plan.

"We can Witch sculpt the stones in place. It won't be much harder than harvesting raw rock. We still have to sculpt it from the carn and apparate it back to Hogwarts. We might as well bring a finished product. That means my Witch sculptors need to visit Stonehenge first, in order to fix the exact shapes in our minds. I understand that there are four magical stones, which you want to copy. We can do that. Give me Professor McGonagall, Cissy, Margaret, and Hermione, since she knows which stones you want."

I decided to work on creating portkey belts for all of my potential Questers. Luna said that she would help me. Harry hung around to chat. He wasn't going to the Ministry at all. It's as if he wanted to savor every remaining moment with me, which probably was the case.

"I think we should include Tony in part of the planning. He can help find the stones and silver that you need. Your father says it's okay. What do you think."

"Fine, Harry. Do you want to contact him? I was thinking of underground destinations that we could apparate to, if we needed to retreat. I thought perhaps your Gringotts vault, but didn't know if it was set to let me out."

"Of course it is. You're my wife. What's mine is yours. Just to be doubly safe, let's test it today. If you're going to use the vault, you should not be the only person who can operate it. We should add permission for Hermione. We can trust her."

"I agree. We'll do that tomorrow. Think about a spot at the Ministry that we can safely apparate to. In fact think of all the locations you can."

"Ellie can set up a room in the storage section of the basement that the Ministry apparation barriers will permit your team to apparate into. I don't think that's hard to do. You could apparate into Slytherin, it's virtually empty and may be next term – perhaps that's only a short-term good idea. There's the basement of both of George's shops. The basement of Cissy's castle is a good spot."

"Yes, I had thought of all those places. I'm looking for some place that isn't closely connected with any of my potential Questers, but will be safe."

"One place I went with the Dursleys was the Silver Exchange in London. It's far underground. Mr. Dursley wanted me to see it, so I would know all the things I could never have as a person who was going to waste his life on magic. We also visited the Churchill war rooms in the basement of a government building. I think that I could apparate you to both of those spots. They wouldn't be good for daytime, but could be a night retreat. You were in the basement of 10101 and the basement of the church near it. You could apparate to either of those spots."

"That's all a lot more what I'm looking for. It sounds as though I'll be fine on unusual escape spots at night. I need daytime places."

"It's always night somewhere. You'll need spots in other parts of the world, in case you are limited in apparation range for some reason. I know, it's a stretch, but I'm just trying to cover all the possibilities. Really, just about every Muggle house has places in the basement, if they have a basement that is, where nobody ever goes. Muggle stores have barely used areas of basement storage. Every Muggle church has useful underground places. Don't forget the tunnel under your own church, by the way. I think some of us may just have to sneak into some Muggle buildings and find a good apparation spot. As far as daytime retreats in the middle of where most of your destinations are likely to be, you should ask Phaedra to identify some safe daytime spots in Greece."

"While you think about that, I also have the need for really pretty spots. Scenic views that my Questers can remember and pull up in their minds when the prolonged dank causes the black dog to appear. Don't look at me like that. I know it's a Muggle expression that I learned from Hermione, but it just fits so well with Professor Trelawney's The Grim, that it seemed perfect."

"Well now that you've brought up Churchill, I saw a show on the telly that said he regarded the view from Chartwell as the most beautiful in Britain. I've not been there, but I'll bet Hermione has. What I like most are views from day-time flying. The view over the Hogwarts lake is stunning. The view from the cave where you start your Quest is also very nice. You can see our homes from there, so that should be a nice scene for you and Hermione to remember. Ron and I can stand outside our house, while you and Hermionie make your memory. I know what you're thinking – you want to keep Jaden and Adrienne in good spirits, but you don't know how much the Quest will wear down you and Hermione. You need your own cheery memories."

Harry was right. The view of our house was something that I could cling to and compel myself to fight my way back to, no matter what challenges I might face on the Quest. Given Harry's mood, I asked him what he thought about taking the Pensieve with us.

"Good idea. That's also a way to carry information. Remember the Dumbledore lectures to us?"

I did, but I didn't see that as particularly practical. If magic was good enough for us to lug the Pensieve around in Hermione's magical purse, we could certainly add the written reports from all of my helpful planners. I really didn't have time to make the memories of the information. I told Harry as much.

"I didn't mean you had to make the lecture memories. Any of the professors could do it for you, or one of the Ministry experts or aurors. I agree that if the written report is adequate that you don't need the memory. What about things that require a demonstration or a picture?"

"You're right, but we can also carry pictures as easily as memories. For complex concepts, we can take memories of a demonstration lecture. You can remind the planners of that and they can store what they think will help."

I could sense that my lack of enthusiasm for his idea was causing Harry to slip out of his helpful, cheery mood. I rushed to change the subject.

"Can we all fly tomorrow? The flight across Scotland that we made with our piece of the Voldemort ghost was just beautiful. We could fly all the way to the firth at Edinburgh. I don't need to revisit the hill near 10101, that memory is etched in my mind and I can extract it for the others to view.

"Tomorrow works for me," Harry told me. "If a night flight perked up Jaden's mood, a day flight should dazzle her. I'll bet she's never made a cross country flight in the daylight. Work hard for the rest of the day and a long flight tomorrow can be your reward.

"I haven't forgotten using stored memories to carry information. One thing you should consider is very detailed views of all the circles we've seen, showing exactly how the silver connectors are braided and how the stones are placed. I'm sure our friends could send us the same information on the Paris and Durmstrang circles."

I liked this idea and I told Harry that he should arrange it. That sent him off with a smile.

I went in search of the ancient Witches. I had just remembered the comment about the Hogwarts Goddess and wanted to learn more of her. If she existed, she might well be the first deity we met.

Victoria and Mafalda were chatting together in the Ravenclaw common room. I told them "I believe it was Victoria who told me that she had seen one of the Brighit Triad near Hogwarts some thirty years ago. I've just recently been told that the Goddess of Hogwarts was in the vicinity some dozen years ago. Was she the same deity of whom you spoke earlier?"

"I don't know dear, I haven't seen her in the past almost thirty years."

"Which of the triad did you meet?"

"It was the Cailleach Bheur. She is associated with Scotland, so she could be the Goddess of Hogwarts. She didn't call herself that in my presence. Her sister Brighid still lives, but doesn't hang out as much in Scotland. If Brigantia lived, I suppose she could be the Goddess in question. She was closely associated with Scotland. The sisters filled in for each other, so if Brigantia is dead, perhaps her sisters have taken her place. The Cailleach and Brighid each commanded half the seasons, so it would take both remaining sisters to replace Brigantia. We're past Beltaine, so it would be Brighid you would be most likely to meet on your Quest, if you are to meet a Goddess at Hogwarts."

"That sounds right to me," Mafalda endorsed all that Victoria had told me. "I know of no other Goddess who has been linked to Hogwarts or to the land it sits upon. I'll think on the matter."

I really hadn't learned anything new. I would need a folder on Brighid. On the Cailleach also, just to be thorough. As I continued to work diligently through the afternoon, I discovered that I already possessed such a folder.

Professor McGonagall had authored the folder and noted at the top 'these notes include input from Victoria, Mafalda, and Professors Trelawney and Sprout. I have made a study of the triad, so assigned this topic to myself.'

I skimmed what McGonagall had written. Her script was difficult for me to decipher. The key point seemed to be that she disagreed with Victoria, regarding the death of Brigantia, although she agreed that this poor deity had been under considerable duress the past several decades. Still, a Witch, whom McGonagall described as 'old Mathilda, reported conversing with Brigantia a few miles outside of Harrogate, about fifteen years ago. Old Mathilda reported that Brigantia was failing and most distressed that she had been 'nearly forgotten by my people'.

This was significant, because of the three sisters McGonagall reported that Brigantia was the only warrior Goddess. She also commanded a great wild boar, which would be a truly nasty thing to encounter in the confines of a cavern. Her sisters seemed much easier to deal with.

McGonagall noted that 'Brighid commands the eternal flame and provides a means for those who travel within the earth to warm themselves and light there way with flame borrowed from this generous Goddess.'

This seemed very important, since fire, along with diamonds and chocolate, were things that Harry and Ron couldn't place in the caverns before we arrived. We had to carry any of these items we needed, from the very start of the Quest.

Brighid seemed like a Goddess I would like and would be able to negotiate with. I realized that I had been negligent in my blessing of Little Erin in not mentioning Brighid and her significance to the Bealtaine holiday. Really, I should have mentioned the transfer of responsibility from the Cailleach Bheur to Brighid on that date. I hoped that lapse wouldn't be held against us, but got the impression from McGonagall's notes that Brighid was not a jealous or vengeful Goddess.

The Cailleach was a little more difficult. Commanding winter, she was a more intimidating figure, with a staff having the power to freeze the earth. I took relief from the knowledge that all of the circle caverns with which I was familiar were dry. The ability to freeze standing water would be quite a weapon. I read that the Cailleach could command the storm, but hoped this would not be a problem to those of us sheltered by the caverns.

I worked hard, but at least got to take a break for a delicious dinner of vegetarian lo meins. Adrienne's crew did not reappear until an hour after dinner. Adrienne was still cheery, but Hermione looked totally whipped, as did some of the others.

"We harvested the four stones you wanted," Adrienne proudly reported to me. "They're inside the Chamber of Secrets next to the stones from the Aragog cave. They are perfect matches to the magical stones at Stonehenge. Nobody will know the difference if you need to make the substitution."

I told everyone of the big treat in store for us, right after breakfast. We would spend the whole morning and half the afternoon flying our brooms, site-seeing, and storing happy memories of beautiful scenery.

In her tired state, Hermione was less than visibly enthused by the prospect.

"I think I might forego that trip and just continue my research, after a late rising," she told me.

This did not sit at all well with Ron. When Ron is excited, he is incapable of speaking in a quiet whisper, so I overheard everything he said.

"I know you're tired, but you must do this. This is preventative mental hygiene and you will need it more than you expect. I know you're not as moody as Adrienne, but all that time underground is going to bother you. You will need memories of bright vistas. I will feel much safer about you if you participate in the trip tomorrow. Harry and I are going. I think we'll all have a good time. You are working very hard and you need a beauty break."

Hermione was controlled enough to whisper back very quietly. I couldn't make out a word of what she said to Ron, but Ron appeared to be mollified by whatever was said.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Seven – Tony Comes To Dinner**

Hermione and Ron arrived in the Great Hall just ten minutes after Harry and I did. Hermione was smiling and Ron was jollying her along. Not only was Hermione seemingly eager to join our excursion, but she had decided to bring the Colin Creevey camera to record our view of the countryside. She had stopped on the way to breakfast to retrieve the camera.

As Harry had suggested, all of my companions were dressed in sky-camouflage robes, which would allow us to fly lower over the countryside and get a clearer view of what we were flying over.

Since it promised to be a long flight, but not one of fast climbs and turns, I ate a very full breakfast of bacon, eggs, bangers, chips, some fruit, and a croissant. I wasn't concerned about being sluggish upon my broom, but wanted plenty of energy to stave off the cold at altitude and to keep hunger at bay.

I was surprised that everybody wanted to fly. We had all been working hard, mostly inside the castle, where it was easier to manage our books and papers – working from dawn to late in the evening. Even Mom, McGonagall, Trew, and the two ancient Witches thought a half day of riding a broom sounded great. I doubted they all had the endurance to pull it off, but McGonagall assured them that they could simply apparate back to the apparation pocket if they became too tired or stiff to keep up with the rest of us. Dad decided that he would spend the day at the Ministry.

At eight in the morning, twenty-four brooms launched into an almost clear morning sky. I had Cotto perched at the tip of my broom, Hermione carried Catta, while Harry was 'stuck' with Aagog. It is unkind to say 'stuck', but I knew that it would hinder my enjoyment of the flight, if every time I looked forward and down, I saw a very large spider. Aagog seemed nice enough, but I couldn't deny the ick factor was still present.

We took off from the lawn in front of the entrance to the castle, popped up over the Dumbledore tomb, then headed out over the lake. The sun glinted off the water, sending a shower of sparkles amongst the ripples. I dipped down to drag my bare feet through the water. I skimmed along the surface for a hundred yards, sensing the slightly chill water which my feet were plowing through. Then I pulled up on my broom, climbing sharply so that we were above five-hundred feet before we left the Hogwarts grounds. As we headed over the lake, toward the forested hill along it's eastern shore,it was every bit as beautiful a sight as Harry claimed. I locked this memory into my brain, along with the exhilarating feeling of zooming up to clear the nearest trees and then to soar high above their tops.

Soaring over the water had opened my mind to a flood of thoughts: could we use Firenze's whale pod to relay messages, if communication with the Stone were severed because of some Quest rule or failure of magic; could we hide under the lake if need be, surviving with gilliweed, as Harry did during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, or even sinking a small enclosure? Would the mer-people help us, if we did that? They had communicated through Hagrid that they were willing to do what they could to help me in my Quest. I would have to speak to them tomorrow. I gloried at how free my mind felt as it soared along with my body. I'm an athlete and I had missed this feeling as I labored to prepare for my Quest.

We turned to soar up over the higher hills to the north. The green was just brilliant with the sunlight dancing amidst the top of the trees, as the thin branches waved in the wind. A little farther ahead, I spied mostly bare rock. I was reminded that Harry's godfather had survived for months inside uncharted caves in these hills. Harry might know the location. If the aurors didn't find Sirius, I suspected that few could find the caves.

I messaged my thoughts to Harry and Hermione.

{[surprised] You are supposed to be flying to enjoy the sights, not to continue detailed Quest planning. Yes, I know where one of Sirius's caves is located. It's not large. It would be a tight squeeze for your Quest party. I doubt you could all get back far enough into the cave to avoid seeing the countryside from the cave mouth. Doesn't that violate the Quest rules? With the gilliweed you could stay under the lake for at least an hour, probably two. Is that okay by Quest rules? The sun penetrates just about all the way to the lake bottom. Really, only the deepest parts are dark.}

I'd have to ask Firenze. Hermione echoed Harry's concern that my ideas weren't legal under Quest rules. If parts of the lake bottom were always dark, I thought it likely that these areas were allowable hideaways. I would definitely talk to the mer-people and Firenze. If the cave were too small for my traveling party, I was quite sure I couldn't sink and enclosure large enough to hold the whole gang. How do you put a spider or a Unicorn in the deepest part of a lake?

The same objections applied to some of the other retreats we had contemplated. Could I possibly fit a Centaur, a Unicorn, seven Witches, a Goblin, an Elf, and a spider in our Gringotts vault? In a Muggle basement? I realized that I had yet to recruit a female Centaur. I wasn't at all sure that it was safe to do so. What if we had to move to the next stop on our journey and it was too small for a Centaur or Unicorn? Then again, what sort of circle could be fitted into a space too small for a Centaur? All the circles I had encountered were designed to be accessible to both Centaurs and Unicorns.

{[Annoyed] I sense that you are still planning, rather than focusing on the beauty beneath you.}

I think Harry was wrong, and more than a little bit of a nag. I wasn't so much planning for the Quest as allowing my mind to run totally free for the first time in days. I was not focused on trivia. I was totally free for the first time since my Quidditch practice had been interrupted by the summons to the Quest. I was seeing everything below me. I was feeling the cool wind on my skin and the sun on my head and shoulders. It was all just 'see something, let the random thoughts flow, snag the ones that seem somewhat interesting'. I was seeing the scenery, but it was prompting thoughts. I had committed half a dozen distinct views to memory.

I was quite sure that my memories were vivid enough to extract for clear viewing in the Pensieve or simply to recall for my own delight. Really, the main feeling I was taking in was the peace and freedom of flying, with the sun beating on my shoulders and the cool air rushing past my face. We were flying very fast.

Speed seemed both the easiest way to avoid giving any Muggles a really good look at us, as well as the least tiring approach for the older Witches. Just staying on their brooms took strength and energy, while holding position cramped muscles and allowed the broom to bite into your butt and legs. Going faster made the trip take less time, which was good. We weren't going so fast that anybody would miss any of the scenery, or that Hermione couldn't take clear pictures with the camera.

I wanted a view of the highlands, so we were flying a big arc which took us more than a hundred miles to the north, before we curved back for Edinburgh. Ahead of us was actual mountain. It was lovely, We crested it and then I turned us for Edinburgh. The edge of the mountain, valleys, hills, streams, lots of trees, and then the flat fields and roads as we approached Edinburgh from the west.

I was amazed that all of the elderly Witches were hanging with us. Victoria looked like she was tiring, but the others were having a grand time. Even Victoria seemed happy. I decided that we would fly enough beyond Edinburgh to be out of sight of land and then almost land in the Firth, before apparating back to Hogwarts.

I saw the big hill in back of 10101 as we flew over the old stone buildings of Edinburgh. I was worried about being seen in such a populated area, so we were now flying above a thousand feet. It was cooler up here, but it was later in the day, so really not all that bad. I found it bracing.

I talked through the Stone to communicate my plan to land in Firth of Forth. As when we dropped the ghost box, we had to fly fairly far down the firth to avoid places where we could be seen from ships or the shore. We slowed our speed as we drifted lower. We had to be nearly motionless to be able to apparate and not splat into the ground or the fence at Hogwarts. We flew lower and slower, lower and slower, until we almost hovered as we dropped low enough for my toes to touch the water. We linked hands and were instantly back at Hogwarts in a tangle of limbs and brooms.

Either the flight or the landing scrum had Victoria limping back to the castle. I suggested that she save her legs and ride her broom back, but she waved me off "the last thing I need right now is to mount a broom. Just let me lean on you a little."

I could tell she was pooped. We were all hungry and a tad over-sunned and wind-burned. We were a several hours late for lunch. As we entered the Great Hall Neville commented "cheap lunch today, I'm afraid. With Tony coming for dinner, I need to save a few galleons. I know we're all hungry, but pasta is filling."

Tony arrived at five. He had two security people, but had left his aides at home. I don't think he was pleased with his aides after the fiasco of the transporter failure.

Barb and I met Tony at the Hogsmeade rail station. I don't know why he arrived by rail. It wasn't the normal train and it waited at the station after disgorging Tony and his bodyguards.

"I'm glad you finally decided to discuss your Quest with me. It really is a legitimate concern for my government. After Voldemort, what you Wizards do has to be a concern to us, and this Quest sounds like very big deal. Almost as big as being able to travel between worlds."

As soon as we were through the gate and within the magical barriers of Hogwarts, Tony waved to his bodyguards to stay at the fence and led me to a tree. When Barb followed us, Tony pointed to the fence. I nodded to Barb and she walked off to talk with Tony's protectors.

"Only my two closest body guards and the engineer of the train know where I am. I wanted to speak to you in private, since you are the leader of the Quest. I'll talk to your associates over dinner. After the transporter, travel between worlds, and Voldemort, the doings of your community are of great interest and concern to me. I can't help thinking that I am taking an awful risk by not letting more members of the government in on the secret. You need to be very discrete. Far more discrete than you've been. As an example, your broom flight today wasn't as secret as you think."

"Oh!"

"Despite your clever attire, I would have expected that the leader of a nature-based religion knew at least the rudiments of goose behavior. They fly in vees, not in straight columns two abreast. Several dozen of you flying together might be expected to attract attention on a clear day. Where were you flying to?"

"Actually nowhere in particular. We took a very circuitous route to Edinburgh. We were just sight-seeing and enjoying the freedom of a broom flight. With the prospect of several months spent underground during the Quest, we wanted to charge our minds with beautiful sights, pleasant smells, and just the freedom of flying across the countryside. We wanted to see lake, and forest, and mountain, field and stream, the old buildings of Edinburgh, and the ocean. We just overflew Edinburgh, landed in the firth, and apparated ourselves back home."

"Apparated – I thought the transporter was broken."

"It is. Apparating is something that we could do before we discovered the transporter. If we've been somewhere before, or we can see it in front of us, we just wish ourselves to be there, and we are."

"That sounds like a very handy trick in a battle and like part of what Voldemort's men did when they caused so much damage."

"I admit, it is one in the same. It's not a threat to you. We are weak in numbers and you have very powerful weapons."

"I understand that, but you don't recognize what an ideal weapon for terror or assassination this apparating and your wands are. You can kill someone and our medical examiners see it as death by natural causes. Your husband has already just apparated into my office, when he wished to talk to me. That should be one of the most secure places in Britain. I also might not have been alone."

"Harry is sometimes impetuous and doesn't think of the problems that his actions might cause. He did have a very great need to talk to you."

"I thought that's why I have that ugly portrait in my office. Your leaders can speak to me through the portrait. I was told they speak and then I have a choice whether or not I wish to allow them to appear in person. That's what my predecessor told me. That was supposed to be the deal. I find that you can visit me, whether I desire to see you or not. Surely that is at least a bit of a danger."

"Yes, I can see that it would have to seem like a very great personal danger. I promise you that we are not a threat to you, your government, or your community."

"I believe you. I trust you and your family. I know there are Wizards who are not to be trusted. I suspect that your Shacklebolt may be one such Wizard. I'd hate to think what might happen if he decided that I needed to be killed."

"Umm, I really don't think he would do something like that."

"You hesitated before you said that."

"Yes, Shacklebolt has done some things that have caused me to expect that he might trust the wrong aurors or act rashly and unwisely without permission."

"That's as I thought. What I need to know from you, rather than those in government, whom I must assumed to be more practiced liars than yourself is this: does your Quest pose hazards which I need to be aware of?"

"My father and husband are horrible liars. I can always tell when they are shading the truth. You can trust them. Neither has ever lied to you. I'll tell you the absolute truth about the Quest. I don't think it's any threat to you or Britain. I could die, as could my fellow Questers. It is possible that magic could be unstable for a short period of time. That should really be an issue outside of Britain, rather than here, although it might happen briefly in at least parts of Britain."

"And what is the advantage of the Quest?"

"If my team succeeds, we will re-start and re-tune dead or improperly performing magical circles. We will have negotiated with the remaining old Gods and Goddesses to sign on to the Light Guardian's Covenant and to support peace among all thinking creatures. Magic should be stronger. Dark magic should disappear. Many non-magical people may become magical, although we can't be certain of that. The disappearance of dark magic should prevent the rise of another Voldemort or Bruce."

"It will be good to not have any more Voldemorts, but I'm not so sure about the rest of all that. I've been told that the magical circles have made Britain more lucky over the centuries. If other nations also get magic, don't we lose our advantage?"

"Many other nations have magic. It just isn't as strong as it is in Britain. You know that there are magical circles and magical people in France and Germany. Actually, there are magical people as far east as the Urals, who send some children to Durmstrang Academy in Germany. Magical people are just quite scarce in the east. Other countries have very small magical communities. I know almost nothing about them. I don't think Britain loses much advantage, since magic is strongest here."

"Won't it be very disruptive if a lot of my fellow countrymen suddenly wake up one morning able to perform acts of magic? What are we to do with them?"

"There have been more newly magical Britains showing up during the past year. We've admitted them to Hogwarts, in order to teach them of their magical heritage and train them to control their magical abilities and use it responsibly."

"But if magic increases, you may well have a lot of newly magical people who have no magical heritage."

"We may have that now. It's only a theory that most of them have magical parents in their background. Actually, I think a lot of your community are distantly descended from magical beings. Magic was once quite common and accepted in Britain. Of course, that was a very long time ago. We'd have to come up with a new way to handle the newly magical if we suddenly had thousands, rather than dozens. Untrained magic can cause serious accidents."

"That is a concern, and a reason why I feel that I must be able to monitor your Quest more closely than I have been able to do thus far. I'm willing to help you procure the stones and supplies that you need, but I and my people need to be part of the planning. I didn't bring any of my people, so that we can talk openly tonight. I can't approve of you stealing the Stonehenge stones. I know that your people did that several years ago and my government was not at all pleased. I don't know what we would have done if the stones hadn't been returned within a day."

"I know nothing about that. We did wonder why four of the stones showed quite a lot of residual magical force. How did you know we were considering borrowing a few of the stones."

"Your friend Hermione was seen touring Stonehenge with a small group. She observed some of the stones all too closely. We saw a smaller group, which I think included both you and Hermione sneaking into Stonehenge the night before. Do you care to explain what you were planning to do, without informing me."

{{Harry, help me. I'm near the gate being questioned very seriously by Tony. Can you come down here?}}

{[alarmed] I'll be right there!}

"We think we may have to re-create a magical circle, which used to be inside Hogwarts – really, under it. The original stones were removed. Most of them were in the spider cave, but at least three are missing. We thought that it might be necessary to use stones which have been part of a magical circle. We thought Stonehenge and discovered that four of the bluestones were still magical.

"We didn't 'decide to steal them'. It was part of a back-up plan. We aren't sure if we even need more stones or if they need to have ever been magical. We made non-magical copies of the Stonehenge stones, in case we needed to borrow them. I hope we would have told you, before we actually borrowed them."

"Stole them. And I certainly hope you would have eventually asked my permission. I am willing to help you, within reason, if convinced that your Quest is for the good."

"Hi, I was afraid the train broke down or the two of you got lost." My husband had just appeared at my side.

"I was just telling your wife that I'm willing to cooperate with her Quest, but that you, she, and your government have been keeping entirely too many secrets from me. You've also been acting a little recklessly. I've discussed some of my concerns with Ginny, but perhaps I should raise a few others, before we are in a larger group and you feel compelled to lie."

"I'll have to bring the Minister up to date, but Ginny and I are willing to talk to you and ease your concerns."

"That was very nicely phrased. I hope you are actually willing to honestly answer my questions, rather than just jollying me along. For example, I have a very strong suspicion that the transporter did not really fail, although I found no evidence of a sham or sabotage. I think that the Stone still lives and that it helps you move about, as when you just apparated back into Hogwarts. I've been told that it isn't possible to apparate into Hogwarts."

{[concerned] Go ahead, tell him most of what happened.}

"That's a lot of questions and some incorrect assumptions. It normally is impossible to apparate into Hogwarts. The school has magical barriers that prevent apparation. Those barriers can be turned off. In fact, we all learned to apparate right here at Hogwarts and the apparation barriers were turned off, or at least re-tuned, to permit that instruction.

"The transporter is not the same thing as the Stone. We think the Stone is much older and that the transporter was added later. Yes, the Stone still lives. We did not use the Stone to apparate back to Hogwarts, although we can use it to communicate with each other at great distance. The Stone may be very slightly damaged, but is basically good.

"The transporter is badly damaged. We haven't tried to use it since the incident which damaged it. I know that each damaged crystal reduces the transporter's ability to move beings or freight to one or more of the other worlds. I know that with two damaged crystals, we would lose the ability to transport to two worlds. I don't know how much three damaged crystal incapacitate the transporter."

"You said 'incident'. 'Accident is a more normal term to use, unless the failure wasn't purely an accident. You planned it."

"It was both an accident and a planned event. I feared that you, or more likely your friends across the ocean, would attack our world, and try to turn the transporter and me into a weapon. I don't want to be a weapon, and I don't want my community to be destroyed, because of an old transporter that we found by accident. We planned to have the transporter fail, so that everyone would think it was worthless. I'm sorry I didn't trust you, but it really involves a lot more people than you, doesn't it? The failure was a lot more serious than I planned. I very nearly didn't make it back."

"I had the sense that it was something like that. I promise you that I don't plan to attack you. I do have to be certain that you are not a threat to us. Let me ask you, do you think of yourself as British or as a Witch-person."

"I think of myself as a British Witch-person. I started my education in your schools. I like this country and feel more comfortable here than in France or Germany. My first loyalty is to the British Wizard community. I would fight to protect my community if anybody – ANYBODY – attacked it. I am no threat and likely a benefit to Britain as a whole."

"How about you, Harry?"

"I'm the Deputy Minister. That sets my primary loyalty. I do see myself as British. I went to English schools longer than Ginny did, and didn't know that I was magical until I came to Hogwarts. The same for Hermione."

"So who can I trust and talk to, whom I know values British interests?"

"Any of us. We are allies, not threats. Perhaps we should have been more open allies, but we are not your enemies. In answer to your question, I guess Hermione's parents see their first loyalty to Britain."

"Thank you. I am also concerned that Ginny, Hermione, Arthur, and several others of your community lied to me about the transporter, shall we call it an accident. You passed all of my lied detector tests and we used very sophisticated detectors. I trusted all of you. I especially trusted Harry and Arthur."

"My father didn't lie to you. We didn't tell him about the plan, because he is a rotten liar. We sent Harry off on an errand, because he is also a terrible liar. Hermione, Ron, and I are the only ones who lied, and we practiced for days to pull it off. We could only succeed, because we honestly thought that the survival of ourselves and our entire community were at stake. We got really spooked about who had been listening in on the cellphones. Then your comments about the across the ocean friends scared me more. Then Hermione gave me some Charles Stross books to read. I didn't want Darth Cheney invading Hogwarts."

"No, I can understand that. I wouldn't want that either. I think we've cleared up a lot. Let's go have dinner and talk to the rest of your group. I think we'll continue to allow our bodyguards to entertain each other. You realize, of course that you've ruined the careers of two of my key aides."

"We are starting a new Witch sculpting manufacturing company. We planned to give Cedric a sales job. We could tell that Cedric hated us as saw us as a bunch of freaks. If he rose in your government, he'd be a serious threat to our survival. We didn't want to destroy Cedric's life, but we didn't want him to be a powerful guy in a future government. We like Stewart. I made sure that Stewart wasn't operating the transporter when it failed. We did nothing to make Stewart freak out. It really was truly terrifying. I knew sort of what was happening, thought I had reasonable control of the situation, and I knew what I needed to do to try to fix it. I was totally focused upon getting us home safely, yet I was terrified. You mustn't think Stewart a coward. I was totally horrifying and totally foreign to Stewart."

"That's what I tell him. He's a good man. I'll certainly keep his as an aide, but his self-confidence is shot. He can't forgive himself for screaming. Your Shacklebolt was calm. Was he part of the plot?"

"No, he didn't know a thing. He was just along for the ride, to tell Dad what happened."

Neville and the Elves did very well in preparing a Thai feast for us. We had meat, fish, and vegetable dishes, to satisfy the dietary preferences of all attendees. There was again raw beef for Aagog and new-mown hay for Pegasus.

Dad was apoplectic when Tony revealed what he had surmised and now confirmed. Dad was very apologetic. Tony let him squirm and then told him that he understood that Dad wasn't part of the plan and hadn't lied. We all agreed to work closely together. Tony promised that his government would give me as much help on the Quest as it possibly could. From discussions with many of us, he knew that Voldemort and Bruce both wanted to conquer the Muggles and that all of us had opposed that, considering it both crazily impossible and undesirable. He trusted that we would look out for the interests of Britain. We were British and if Britain suffered at the hands of another nation, magical or otherwise, that it would also hurt us. He wanted me to be sure that in monitoring the progress of my Quest, I kept asking myself whether the benefits of moving forward still matched the risk. The dangers of the Quest could be visited upon people other than the Questers, and I needed to be aware of that. To that end, the planning that most interested him was planning to avoid negative effects of the Quest on our communities at large. I couldn't object. That certainly was reasonable and likely was Dad's major concern.

Tony stated that he would send Stewart to be a full participant in all the future planning. He would arrive tomorrow. Stewart was excellent at planning. Tony expected no complaint about this proposal and he received none.

Tony was gone by seven. He said that his government thought he was on his way to Inverness and that he would be spending the night there. A short delay on the train could be explained as mechanical problems. Traveling by train could be written of as a Prime Minister's whim.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Eight – Planning For The Home Front**

Tony's promise of help relieved some of my planning responsibilities. He would get us the diamonds and stones we needed, along with plenty of silver. More than that, I felt that reaching an understanding with Tony was a big hurdle overcome. Tony's acceptance also seemed to increase Dad's and Harry's acceptance of the Quest. While I was glad that Tony had accepted the wisdom of going ahead with the Quest, I couldn't figure out exactly why he felt that way. The direct benefit to Britain seemed slim. While I felt that we could contain the possible dangers to Britain, they were very real. Walking into the lairs of the old Gods and Goddesses was like kicking a lot of hornets nests. I would not be the only one to get stung.

Still, I was in a good mood and found Hermione to be very upbeat. We went off to a corner of the Ravenclaw common room for a Mother to Muse chat. I hadn't thought I had a specific topic in mind, but we both quickly focused upon our disappointment that with just a week to go before the start of the Quest, neither of us had been able to produce a vivid dream. In my gut I had felt that the Stone would see fit to communicate some more cheaty hints in this manner. It might be in the form of a true prophetic dream, or simply a vivid idea, or a riddle. Hermione broached the topic first.

"I think the flight today cleared our heads. If we are going to have a useful dream, it is going to be tonight. I think we need to re-create the conditions of our prior useful dreams."

"Totally exhausted and relaxed from lots of sex, including bunny-style on the sitting room floor? That, in addition to ring on wand, wand next to skin, is what worked the last two times I had vivid dreams."

"Well that's not what Ron and I were up to, but yes, I think that is the general idea: re-create exactly what worked before. I would mention the reason for the repetition to Harry. The lads don't talk as much as we do, but they do talk. If they compare notes and recognize that we were deliberately re-creating our vivid dream state, they might think we were just using them. It's best they be in on the plan."

This prompted me to raise another topic with Hermione. "I don't know if it's the best approach or not, but I've been trying to have as much sex with Harry as is humanly possible. I think it will give me more good memories to make it through the Quest, but mainly I thought if I was totally exhausted and sexed out to the point of actual soreness that I wouldn't miss Harry as much the first weeks of the Quest. I fear t, bhat may not be the correct approach. Sometimes I sense Harry thinking that I'm behaving like that, because I don't really expect to return to him. Other times I fear that I am just addicting myself to sex and will go crazy after I'm away from Harry for three days."

"I don't know the answer to that question. I am following the same approach that you are. Ron certainly hasn't objected, but he has noticed a difference. If worst comes to worst, I plan to lose myself in my books. I will pack plenty of interesting stories to read. They will divert my mind from any difficulty or dread. Reading won't make me forget Ron, but will certainly blunt the painful desire. You must think what activity will permit you to lose yourself and pass beyond loneliness, sorrow, fear, and pain. I know it would normally be Quidditch or just flying, but you need something that you can carry with you. We'll carry books for me, art supplies for Adrienne, lots of chocolate for all of us, but what shall we carry to keep our leader in good spirits. It is most important that you retain your optimistic, cheery, confident mood. If the leader mopes and doubts, her followers were falter. Please think about it."

I promised that I would do so. I didn't know what I could carry to defend my spirit. Perhaps exotic food and spices? Bringing my broom to fly around a cramped cavern would make me feel like an ancient Witch who couldn't trust her broom skills to the open sky. It might be hard. I was a much more active person than Hermione, or even Adrienne. Too much sitting and thinking invariably left me feeling restless and unsatisfied. I liked painting, but not enough that I thought I could lose myself in art. I realized that I was secretly counting upon my mental link to Harry to maintain the necessary positive disposition. What would I do if that link was broken? It hurt to even think that.

When I returned to our house with Harry, I returned with complete confidence that my plan would succeed and I would finally have the vivid dream, which I felt I needed to progress my Quest planning.

Harry did his part and I had my dream. I dreamt that we would face a Chimaera. In my dream, I saw myself dancing away from the thing, and still feeling the warm of its flame upon my skin. I didn't recognize the location. Really, it could have been anywhere.

The dream frame shifted and I was viewing a fierce female warrior toting a nasty looking spear. She was distinctly unimpressed by me and just expected me to

The dream frame shifted and I was viewing a fierce female warrior toting a nasty looking spear. She was distinctly unimpressed by me and just expected me to display my fealty to her. I was unsure how to handle the situation. My hand was on my want, but I hesitated to draw it, thinking that this warrior my yet be convinced to be my friend.

I remember thinking how weak and lame I sounded as I introduced myself. "My name is Ginny Weasley and I'm the Mother of the Future. I suspect you are an ancient Goddess, but I admit that I can't identify you."

"You should know me. I am the great warrior Scathach. Why are you here?"

I awoke before I could answer. Harry was still asleep. I reached through the Stone for Hermione. I had to share my dream.

Hermione had her own dream. **The wild boar… we have to face the wild boar, and my curses just bounced off the thing. It must be enchanted, in addition to huge and really fierce and nasty. I was in the process of dodging a long, really sharp tusk, when I woke up. Earlier, I saw a Manticore. It didn't seem all that bad. I think we had a good night. Repeat tonight? I think the Stone is dropping us hints through our dreams. Gotta' figure out how to handle the boar.**

I eagerly responded with the first thought which popped into my head. **Ex-ter-mee-nate! I'd say that you and I need to practice it together, and I guess we really do. Harry and I had the simultaneous thing down perfectly, because of our special link. Now you and I have a link. It can be our secret super weapon. I don't think we should use it against the boar. That would really piss off Brigantia, and I've always had the feeling that we could talk our way around the three sisters – the two remaining sisters – you know what I mean.**

Hermione did know what I meant. She promised to think of a less permanently damaging way to incapacitate the boar. I think we both realized that as frightening as some of these mythological beasts might be and as much of a real threat that they posed to us, that the danger of fighting a God or Goddess was far worse. Killing the pet of a Goddess was a sure way to get on her bad side. The Stone was totally correct, our chances of defeating over half a dozen Gods and Goddesses in actual combat were not at all good. Diplomacy was called for. That meant making nice with their nasty pets.

Harry was up and dressing by the time I broke my link with Hermione. He was in an obvious hurry that was not delayed by my reaching out to stroke his body in a playful way as I sat naked in front of him. I was a little hurt, then I remembered: Harry had to pick up Ellie and apparate her to Tony's office. Actually, he had to pick up Ellie at Hogwarts, apparate her to the Ministry to pick up a monolith, then to Tony's office, pick up Stewart and back here. I had no doubt that Tony would insist upon a private chat with Harry, just as he had with me. I think he basically trusted us, but was going to test us in individual chats to coax out a bit more of the truth and search out discrepancies in our stories.

"Yes, I understand. We need to grab a quick breakfast and then you're off to find Ellie."

"She's meeting us at table. I also need to talk to your Dad. You know that Tony is going to question me. I have to know what I can and can't say. I'm not talking secrets, I'm talking commitments. He wants commitments of our loyalty to Britain."

"I understand, Harry."

"I don't think you fully do. Arthur and I strongly suspect that Tony wants our help to solve a particular problem. We just hope he doesn't expect us to assassinate an enemy. Hermione had us reading Charles Stross. Well, Tony has been reading Madam Bones's friend, J.K. Rowling. It's not all that hard to recognize us in those stories and a lot of our powers are revealed. Powers that a Muggle Prime Minister would find either very scary or very tempting, or both. I am both very curious and quite fearful to learn what Tony will say to me this morning."

I quickly dressed and traipsed after Harry to the Great Hall. Ellie instantly changed seats to sit on Harry's right. They were instantly locked in conversation, so I turned to Hermione, who had beat us to breakfast.

"I'll certainly practice the 'Ex-ter-mee-nate!' curse with you, but I think we should practice a duo-modification of other curses," Hermione gushed as soon as I looked at her. "The secret of Viktor's curse really seems to be that it is two people revving themselves up together and firing a lethal curse simultaneously. It's like getting hit by two 'Avada Kedavras' at the same time, but stronger because the partners build strength together and the curses really are at exactly the same time, not just really close together. I think if we used 'Off!' or even 'Petrificus Totalis' or 'Back!' in the same way that it would have a greater than doubling effect, which could stop a big boar, but not permanently harm it."

"That's brilliant. We will all have to pair up and spend an hour practicing every day this week. I just get the sense that we are not supposed to be killers on this Quest. We can be very effective stunners, but not killers."

I turned to explain this new thinking to Harry, but he had already wolfed down his food and had moved to Dad's spot at the table, where he was leaning over and listening intently to Dad.

A few minutes later, Harry walked over, kissed me on the forehead, said he'd see me soon, motioned to Ellie to join him, and was gone.

I wasn't feeling quite ready for a lot of research. I told our researchers that we needed to no a lot more on Chimaeras, Manticores, Brigantia's giant wild boar, and Scathatch.

I felt like practicing fighting, so I picked teams to experiment with Hermione's duo-curse theory. I'd team with Hermione. The other pairings were trickier. I might have to take Narcissa, but I didn't want to teach her any new fighting skills if I didn't actually have to include her in the Quest. I wanted Adrienne to keep Jaden in a cheery mood, so I paired the two of them. I paired Cissy with Cho, thinking Cho was the most likely to keep Cissy in order. I paired McGonagall with Mafalda. I had no idea if Hermione's approach would even work with Elves, Goblins, or Centaurs. This reminded me that I still needed a Centaur.

I spoke to Firenze and Bane. They said I'd have a female Centaur by dinner. They thought that a Centaur and a Goblin might well pair to generate a duo-curse, although a Witch and a Centaur were closer in size and might do better. That was fine, since I would have an odd number of Witches. That left me with Catta and Tendra to try as a fighting pair.

I spoke to Cotto and King Gobbledegook to get their approval before testing this pairing. The King had doubts, telling me that Elves and Goblins thought very differently – it might be an unnecessary experiment and one which was quite hazardous for his daughter. I was about to abandon the idea, when Cotto took up the argument with King Gobbledegook. I told them that we would be practicing in the Room of Requirement and that they should send Tendra and Catta to join us, if they thought it was wise to do so.

That caused the King to quickly tell Tendra "please go with them daughter. You must be able to defend yourself and we knew that you would have to take a certain number of risks."

I stopped on the way to the Room of Requirement to persuade Hagrid that we really, really needed some tough creatures to try to stop with our duo curses. I suggested perhaps a dragon, a thestral, a mountain troll.

Hagrid quickly replied "or a Giant. I will get you the creatures you want, but you can practice on Grawpy and me. I'll fetch Grawp for tomorrow. I trust you that you won't seriously injure us."

"Thank you. I am definitely going to test our theory on the other creatures, before we risk you or Grawp."

I told my fighting teams that we were just going to do basic practice today. I explained the need for the two fighters to be as closely linked as possible and to pronounce the curses simultaneously. I walked them through the same steps that Viktor had used to teach us the 'Ex-ter-mee-nate!'. Each team practiced saying 'Off!', 'Petrificus Totalis', 'Back', and 'Shield' in unison.

Hermione and I thought it important that the teams think of energy flowing from their chests, to their arms, to their wands, and then to the center of the target. When I thought everyone had mastered this approach, I asked the Room of Requirement to provide a row of weighted dummies. Each team fired a duo-'Off!' at a dummy. They then fired a duo-'Back'. The 'Off!' left the dummies standing. The 'Back' shot them back against the rear wall. Happily, the dummies were not blown apart, as they would have been with the 'Ex-ter-mee-nate!' curse. I would have tested 'Ex-ter-mee-nate!' on the dummies, but was afraid that the practice had already dangerously drained my warriors. I told everyone 'great practice' and led them back to the Great Hall.

Harry had already returned with Stewart. Hermione and I joined them. We quickly brought Stewart up to speed on the days planning activities. Stewart seemed uninterested.

"I can tell you that we will have your stones, diamonds, and half a ton of silver wire within two days. Beyond that, the Minister wants me to work on planning to reduce the potential for negative impact upon the rest of us, from your Quest activities. He's briefed me about everything you've talked about so far. What particularly struck me was the comment that Ron and Harry and the rest of us may need to turn off circles which you have restarted."

"Yes, that is something which was suggested to us as part of the rules of the Quest," I admitted, "but I don't see how that relates to the planning that we have to do in the one short week which we have left to us."

"Well, I thought we might talk about the sort of things which could happen, which might cause those of us on the surface to feel the need to silence a circle, which you had turned on. I know you've talked a lot about the problems with circle that are improperly tuned or clashing with other nearby circles. I also know that you think you will have to recreate an old circle right here at Hogwarts. That's awfully close to your Sacred Cavern Circle as well as your pyramid circle. It's not terribly far from the two circles in London or from the White rock in the North Sea. Do you get my point now?"

I certainly did. Stewart knew a lot more than I expected him to know and had clearly been thinking about the tactical and strategic significance of that knowledge. In little bits and pieces, Tony and his aides had learned a whole lot about magic.

"Yes," I told Stewart. "I can see how a new circle might clash with the existing circles and have to be retuned, reduced in power or fully turned off, after we finished with each new circle and until we get additional circles started or re-tuned. That was hinted at in the initial Quest briefing. I can see how that is something that those not on the Quest will have to think about and practice doing. You should work with Harry and Ron on that, and Hermione and I will lend a hand, where needed."

That gave me the chance to go off and chat with Hermione and Dad. "I had to pass Stewart off to Harry," I told Dad. "I find it a little uncomfortable to have an aide to the Muggle Prime Minister knowing quite so much about the black and white Stones and being quite so involved in discussing my interaction with them."

"It was you who admitted to Tony that the failure of the transporter was largely a scam," Dad told me.

"It was a gut move. I had a very strong sense that he had already figured out most of the truth. My whole goal in staging the accident was to protect us from invasion. I decided that being truthful with Tony was the best way to minimize the chance of violent interference from his government. I may have been wrong. I hope there aren't many aides who know as much as Stewart does. Tony really picked up quite a lot from participating on Hermione's committee."

"You did the right thing. The Muggles have been learning more and more about us, since the rise of Voldemort forced several Ministers of magic to consult with various Prime Ministers. It goes back to the start of the Order. Even Ministers who didn't help us, needed to say something to the Muggle Prime Minister. There was just so much that needed covering up. We couldn't do it all ourselves. We needed the help of Special Branch. I've worked with them during all of my career at the Ministry. The Muggles are very organized. I'm sure they passed everything they knew about us from Prime Minister to Prime Minister. It's exploded of late. All the new magical Muggles plus all of Montaigne's bombs have blown the lid of secrecy. I've done so much that in earlier years would have me in Azkaban for violation of the Wizard Secrecy Act. You've just added your little bit to the flood.

"I think we can trust Tony. We really have no choice. We're safer and you're safer if you can convince Stewart that he, Harry, and Ron can prevent your Quest from causing a lot of problems across Britain. I've told McGonagall, Neville, and Callista to think about how we will deal with what I believe to be the inevitable flood of newly magical Muggles, who will pour forth as your Quest progresses. Stewart will want to talk about that. It's not your main area, but it is equally important."

"I understand," Hermione said. "Tony is hopeful that the Quest will bring improvements, but he is afraid that it won't, that the results will be bad, worse than he and we are able to deal with. He isn't ready, but I'm sure he's thinking about how he can explain us and the other magical beings to the British populace. It won't be easy and the reaction may be very negative. A lot of people will connect magic to the Voldemort-caused problems, which were explained away at the time. Muggles died. Muggle property was destroyed. Muggles were frightened. Frightened Muggles can be very dangerous. We had best hope that the Quest quickly improves the world."

"You've thought a lot more about the broader Quest dangers than I have. I'm surprised you agreed to join me, rather than talking me out of it."

"I guess I'm convinced that the Quest is this unavoidable thing that we're fated to do. I think we crossed that bridge when we all entered the Sacred Cavern to confront Ruppasta. Once we sat upon those stone seats, there was no turning back. We have to be aware of the dangers and do whatever we can to avoid them, but I think we have to move forward."

"I've known of the dangers to us. I've felt guilty dragging my Muse into this. I admit that I've felt the inevitability and pull of fate since almost the beginning. I've thought a lot about minimizing the chances of any of my assistants dying on the Quest. I haven't thought nearly as much about the threat to our community and the Muggles. I'm ashamed of that. It should have been obvious to me, especially after I saw the first burst of over-aged new magicals entering Hogwarts from the Muggle world."

"You've had a lot to think about. I've been freer to explore the tangential issues. Let Harry and Ron work with Stewart for a day or two, then we should all sit down together. I think Stewart can offer us a lot of support. I think you realize that he will be the constant companion of Harry and Ron, while we are off on the Quest.

"That's not a bad thing. Harry and Ron need something important and demanding to do while the two of you are away. Stewart can help them. One of the things Harry needs to understand better is how what we do and the progress of your Quest effects British Muggle politics and how Tony will react if opinion starts to turn against him. It is fine to trust Tony, he's a fine man and I do trust him, but he will do what he needs to do to keep himself and his party in power. We have to make sure that what needs to be done remains in our interest.

"You have a very difficult and dangerous job to do under ground. The rest of your families have an equally important and dangerous job to do above ground. It's not just Muggle politics. Wizard politics could also quickly turn against us. I'll work with your husbands to keep things under control. We each have a role to play in your Quest. Don't worry overly much about our part. Trust us to be up to the challenge, just as we trust you to succeed in your Quest."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Nine – An End To Preparations**

My final week of preparation for the Quest flew past all too quickly. There was a lot more that should have been done. The pace of activity was grueling – I had wanted to begin my Quest in a more rested and relaxed condition than I found myself to be in.

Harry was in better mental shape than I had expected. I had thought this last week would be a frenetic exchange of ideas from Harry to push me to consider just one more, one more thing to make me just a little bit safer, by finding a way to deal with some extremely unlikely event. I had dreaded this period, because I had become convinced that the Quest would have to be largely spontaneous, with many challenges that could not possibly be foreseen or planned for. I was both reconciled and willing to trust both my own and my team's skills, judgment, and the truly quite extensive preparation we had all done. I feared this would never be acceptable as safe enough for Harry, or Ron, or Dad.

Happily, those three extreme worriers were fully occupied with Stewart in planning what they must do to contain the inevitable turmoil and damage on the surface. Stewart had fulfilled his purpose in convincing one and all that the struggle on the surface would be every bit as important, daunting, and dangerous as our struggle underground. Stewart had bonded with Harry, Ron, Dad, Wood, Percy, and Neville as a highly effective team, who all trusted each other. I'm quite sure that this inevitably led to Stewart gaining a far more detailed understanding of Wizard society, strengths, and weaknesses than anyone would have deemed acceptable just a week earlier. Stewart was transported to London at the end of each day, so that he could report to Tony.

Harry and I mainly talked in bed, each reviewing the key problems addressed and decisions reached each day. My activities were rather routine, except for making my final choice of assistants – I added a very young Centaur named Cantring and settle upon Cho, Cissy, Adrienne, Jaden, and Mafalda, with McGonagall or Narcissa as a reserve if I were truly forced by Cotto. My team winnowed down our list of things to take with us, organized and packed them, filled gaps in our briefing papers, trained on everything from wand fighting, to sword fighting, to spirit fighting, to Witch sculpting and circle tuning, to long-distance apparation, to quickly retrieving information from the Stone, to breathing under water with gilliweed. My days were full and very strenuous, but the days of big decision making had passed.

Harry had faced far more difficult and interesting decisions. His team had decided to create an introductory school for newly magical Muggles in a section of Diagon Alley. An additional facility had been identified and equipped in Muggle Wales, but everyone hoped that it would not be needed.

The control monoliths were in short supply and that shortage made use of the Wales facility highly questionable. It was equipped only with the standard alarm and defensive and shielding spells that a Wizard could lay down with a wand. It lacked the more elaborate magical barriers and apparation barriers, which required a monolith to control. There was a very promising hint that Ellie may have just solved this problem. She thought she had learned how to use the same monolith to control both the apparation barriers and the more intricate magical protections for a particular site. This could effectively double the magical world's protected areas from eleven to twenty-two.

Harry's team worked with a team of Goblins to plan and train on ways to quickly respond to magical imbalances by tuning, powering down, or totally silencing one of the existing circles. Harry was worried that they didn't have enough skill to do what might need doing.

All three governments worked on plans to hide the scarier things which might happen from the public and to limit panic as events became public. They considered everything from the cessation of all magic, to a dozen Henrys to a new Muggle Voldemort. A lot of time was spent discussing what could be done if 'our friends across the pond' learned of the Quest.

I fell asleep believing we had all done as much as was humanly possible. I would be confident when we returned to the Elf/Goblin cave tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Ten – I Return To The Cave**

I feared that I wouldn't sleep, more out of excitement than dread, but the whale song and some ancient chants knocked me out within five minutes and I slept the whole night. I felt very refreshed as Harry and I traveled to the Great Hall for breakfast. I also felt strangely eager to just get on with the Quest. I had spent months thinking about it and weeks in intensive planning and training. Now I just wanted the action to begin. Although I had no rational reason to believe so, I felt very confident that I would survive the Quest, as would my assistants. It was the same sense I often had before a Quidditch match that even if the other team looked imposing, as the Eire team certainly had, that I and my team were good enough and well prepared enough to win. Not the certainty of bravado, but the recognition that skill and preparation tilted the odds in our favor.

I ate a hearty breakfast, filling my belly with all the breakfast foods I was unsure of having during the Quest. I had croissants with jam, lots of bacon, some eggs, one of Mrs. Bones's wonderful hot chocolates which Ron was kind enough to bring back, when he retrieved Stewart from London, and a banger. This was a Quest, not a Quidditch match, so being sluggish upon my broom was not an issue.

We were expected in the Elf/Goblin cave at 8 A.M. I brought my team, plus three potential alternates, Harry, Ron, Neville, and Dad. McGonagall and Narcissa knew that they were coming only as alternates. Barb and Adrienne knew that I would select one of them, but wouldn't choose until I knew which of my first four choices were approved.

I was greeted by both Cotto and Firenze, who were already at the cave, even though my team arrived five minutes early. Kings Goblanze and Gobbledegook were waiting for us outside the cave. The cave might be Goblin property, but these particular Goblins weren't permitted to enter at this particular time. Tendra received a quick hug and words of encouragement from her father as we entered the cave.

Cotto greeted me and said we should get right to the approval of my suggested assistants. I started with what I knew would be my most contentious nomination.

"I propose that the position of former adversary/foe be filled by Jaden Caulfield. She was the girlfriend of Voldemort and had as much as anyone to do with Tom Riddle gaining the knowledge and skills which changed him into Lord Voldemort. I was nearly killed by Tom Riddle, when I was a second-level Hogwarts Witch. I realize that Voldemort later kidnapped her and kept her prisoner for decades, but they definitely were allies for over a year. It was she who first taught him about horcruxes, so that he could create the horcrux Tom who nearly killed me."

Cotto and Firenze went further back into the cave to discuss this choice outside of our hearing. They were gone for five minutes. When they returned, Cotto told me "this is a very close call. We'll approve your choice, but please don't bend the categories so much with your other picks. It could harm your Quest if you are seen to be cheating the Gods."

"For both the old Witch and the first to depart this realm, I propose Mafalda," I told Cotto.

"That clearly is a most acceptable choice," Cho told me. "Who have you selected to be your young Witch?"

"I propose Cissy Montaigne as both the young Witch and the female Keeper."

"Cissy is clearly acceptable. I assume your final choice is Narcissa Malfoy."

"No, actually it is not," I told Cotto. "She will not be a member of my Quest party."

Cotto and Firenze again excused themselves to the rear of the cave. This time they were gone for ten minutes. When they returned to us, it was only to touch a ring to the spot on the wall which transported them to the floor of the pyramid. I assumed they felt the need for a very intimate communion with the black stone. It was a full half hour before they returned. It was Firenze who spoke.

"Our pardon, Mother - we didn't properly explain the Rules of the Quest at our last meeting. It is our understanding that Jaden and Narcissa are mother and daughter."

"That is true," I replied.

"If a mother and daughter both appear in this cave at the time of the Quest, then both must make the Quest."

I couldn't help myself from blurting. "I knew you would find a way to force me to take Narcissa. I'm just glad I didn't invite my mother here to learn of my Quest first hand."

"We are both only interested that you have the greatest possibility to succeed in your Quest – within the rules, of course," Cotto told me. "To break the rules, is to invite failure. It is as important to us and to the Light Guardian as it is to you that this Quest is a success. There is a precedent of a mother and daughter being counted as one for purposes of the Quest. It is a strained precedent, as the daughter was not yet birthed, but a valid precedent none-the-less. That Quest was a success. We feel almost confident that it is acceptable to treat Jaden and Narcissa as one and allow you to pick a fifth Witch assistant."

I felt stymied and manipulated. I just didn't trust Narcissa. She had deceived us too many times. She had cheated my truth teller skills. While pretending to bend over backwards and be all so accommodating, Cotto and Firenze were forcing me to do exactly what they wanted. If I had my true wish, neither Cissy nor Narcissa would be part of this Quest. Now I must take both. My fifth choice was forced. If I had Narcissa at my side, then I needed to have Barb Rich covering my back. I had badly wanted Adrienne's Siren skills to ease our way past the Gods. I wanted her Witch sculpture talents as we fashioned rock to rebuild circles. Now I needed Barb's skill, not to deal with the Gods, but to spot threats from within my own team."

"I choose Barb Rich as my final Witch assistant," I told Cotto.

"She is of course acceptable," Cotto told me. "I fear that you are starting your Quest in a bad mood. I am sorry if I am responsible. It is important that Narcissa be part of your Quest."

"Why? How can she possibly be the best choice?"

"I cannot reveal the reasons. Let's move on. I can say that she is a safe choice as former foe. You do not trifle with the Gods by choosing her as a former foe."

"I did not choose her. I'm not entirely sure that the designation 'former' is entirely correct. She's your choice. Let's leave it at that and move on."

"Fine. When you leave this cave, you will have another twelve hours to rebuild your spirits, before your Quest begins. I strongly urge you to do so. I understand that you have other candidates for the Quest."

"I propose the Elf Catta, the Goblin Tendra, the Unicorn Pegasus, the Centaur Cantring, and the Spider Aagog. You had promised to inquire whether anything about the Quest made it inherently impossible for a Centaur or a Unicorn to enter the Quest."

"Your choices are all accepted and we know of no reason why any of them should be unable to finish the Quest."

"You may ask us three questions. If you we can do so, we will answer them."

"Are we only allowed to move from one Quest location to the next, or may we temporarily move back to a previous location or another underground retreat location?"

"You may move back to any prior Quest location, but must return to the Quest within two full days or you forfeit. You may have one retreat location. You may travel to it for one full day no more than twice during the course of your Quest. To exceed these limits is to forfeit. You must name the location of your retreat, before you leave this cave."

"I think it wiser to keep the location secret, but if I must identify it …"

"You must."

"Then I choose the floor of the Hogwarts pyramid."

The answer to this question had made my two other questions mute.

"What is your second question? Cotto asked."

"May we bring animals on the Quest."

"You may each bring one pet. We will not limit your choice of pets, although please don't push the rules and tell us that one of you has a pet dragon. What is your final question?"

"Is it permissible to travel to the Quest locations as spirits, rather than in our bodily form?"

"Ah, that is why you chose the pyramid as your retreat. I should have guessed your purpose. Yes, you may travel and even fight or tune a circle in spirit form. Except for the final Quest location, you will be limited to two times of a full day as spirits, since your location is presumed to be the location of your physical body. If you can manage to travel as spirits from a Quest location, that would increase your flexibility, but I seriously doubt that is possible."

Firenze now addressed us. "I have a few final thoughts and rules to convey to you, before you make your final election to accept or decline our invitation for your party to pursue the Quest.

First, an interpretation of a very mundane rule. You have all come to the cave this morning fully burdened. Only Keepers and Quest participants may carry supplies to this cave ahead of the Quest. What was carried by Professor McGonagall, Professor Celine, Headmaster Longbottom, and Minister Weasley must be removed by them, when you leave this cave at noon."

"Neville is a Keeper," I told Firenze. "I added him to the list. Bane approved him."

"Whose spirit will he keep?" Firenze surprised me by that question.

"Cissy," I told him. "He is her headmaster. Should I have Keepers for each of the other Quest participants?"

"You have asked the three questions which you are allowed."

Well, that was just great. Very helpful, Professor Firenze, you might have explained the Keeper rules a bit more fully during our first visit to the cave.

As if reading my thoughts, Firenze apologized, telling me "I fear I should have been more explicit during our first meeting. I'm sorry, but I cannot answer any more questions. You must try to do what you feel you must do. Infractions of the rules will be upon your head."

I didn't know whether that was meant as a cheating suggestion that I quickly find more Keepers or a warning against trying any such thing.

Firenze continued with his comments. "First, you should know that whether or not you finish the Quest, you officially become the Mother of the Future when you leave Durmstrang. This is true, whether you leave Durmstrang to continue the Quest, or whether you leave to return home. The Stone is allowed to reveal more information to you at that time. The rules may change. It will be your choice whether to continue on the Quest or to return home without penalty. Any member of your team may choose to return home.

"The Stone will transport you from place to place on the Quest. Even if you know the next destination, you may not take yourselves there. The Stone will not carry you to the next stop on the Quest until you have satisfactorily completed your assignment at your current stop. The Stone is the sole judge of satisfactory completion, unless the Light Guardian accepts your appeal.

"The first three stops of your Quest are meant to be doable by any qualified Mother and Muse. If you find yourselves stretched too severely by them, it is best not to continue beyond Durmstrang. We do not desire your deaths. That does not mean the first three stops are unimportant. They deal with circles of great importance and a God and Goddess in need of your help.

"You should know that as you restore the perfect magical force in a place, that creatures of the dark magic cannot survive in that place, nor can they abide in the same place as you or your assistants once you accept the Quest, nor can they control you or your assistants in any way. Once you accept the Quest, you are the warriors of the Light Guardian. Some of its power travels with you."

"I now must ask Ginny and each member of her team whether they accept of their own free will, willingly taking on the responsibilities and hazards of this Quest or whether they decline the Light Guardian's invitation to Quest on its behalf."

Firenze called the roll. Each of us answered yes, although Narcissa hesitated for a moment. She glanced at McGonagall and finally said yes in a rather weak voice. Firenze asked her a second time. This time she immediately gave him a strong 'yes' in response.

"Excellent. I welcome you to your Quest and wish all of you well. It is most fortuitous that so many different magical beings have joined this Quest. That augers well for success. When you return, you should be wearing the robes of holy beings, which you each will be, just as soon as you swear the following oath.

We each swore: "I swear fealty to the Covenant among all magical creatures. I will not kill any creature who thinks, unless there is no other way to save myself or other innocents. I will persuade other magical creatures to follow this fundamental rule. I will support the right of all magical peoples to choose their own government and way of life. I will do my best to persuade the leaders of my people that they must not attempt to dominate other thinking peoples. I will support those Gods and Goddesses who support the Covenant. I will help the weak and the injured. I will educate those who need to learn. I will live my life as an example to other thinking creatures of a life well and truly lived. I will learn as much as I can and share my learnings with others. I will fight for what I know to be right."

Firenze passed out robes. The Witches got the white robes of the Light Guardian Priestess. Tendra received the scarlet robe of the Priestess of the Master. I saw that Catta, Cantring, and Pegasus were each given white robes. I say robes, but they were actually cloth ovals with a hole for their necks to go through that tied in the front. They were as much very rich and soft extended blankets as robes. Aagog received the steel grey robes, or rather ruffle and short skirt for her upper belly, of a Daughter of Gog.

"It is half an hour until noon. You may not leave this cave until noon. Please remember all that Cotto and I have tried to teach you. Please trust that the Stone is your friend and wants what is best for you. I am pleased with the retreat place which you have chosen. I think you made the second best possible choice. Other Quest leaders have chosen less well or not realized that a temporary retreat is possible."

Silence had descended upon us. Cotto and Firenze apparently had said all that they meant to tell us and were prepared to just wait out the time until noon. Cotto was staring at an old silver pocket watch. Firenze was staring at Hermione.

"May the Muse ask a question?" Hermione broke the silence.

"The Muse is always allowed one question."

"You said that if we retreated to a site other than the one Ginny named or if we retreated there for longer than two one-day stays, that we forfeit. Do we forfeit the Quest or our lives?"

"You forfeit the Quest. You may need to fight for your lives. Choose the proper place of retreat and your lives should be safe. You have fifteen more minutes to wait. I brought your favorite chocolate. You might as well enjoy some while you wait."

"So, we must have a second, ultimate retreat location for abandonment of the Quest," Hermione whispered to me. "It sounds like it needs to be some sort of impregnable fortress. Perhaps the throne room of Castle Weasley?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Eleven – Final Preparations**

Cotto finally announced "It is noon. Return here in twelve hours. You have much to do."

I knew that Harry had caught the significance of what was said in the cave, when he told Barb and Dad "Narcissa must be guarded closely. She will be in mortal peril until the Quest is underway. You and Ellen must stay with her every second. Suicide is a possibility and she may attempt to over-power the aurors to pull it off. She is not to go into the castle or near Hagrid."

I glanced at Narcissa and saw her expression suddenly change to one of great confusion, tinged with fear.

"Oh, of course, "Off!" Ron shouted. Narcissa dropped like a sack of potatoes thrown into the bin.

"Very wise, Ron," I told my brother. "I think Voldemort was trying to seize control of her mind. We should stash her in the Reception Hall. I'll find her there if I need to provide training or instruction. She'll just have to start the Quest hungry. At least she'll be well rested."

Barb touched the inert Narcissa and promptly vanished. King Goblanze, who had wondered over to listen to what we were saying, decided that he would follow, in case the Goblin guards required an explanation.

First in line of those requiring an explanation was McGonagall. "That was totally uncalled for, Ron. Narcissa was behaving very well and it was generous of her to agree to go on the Quest, which I'm quite sure you all realize is something she would rather not do. I had to persuade he why she must. It is her best path into the good graces of our community. Where have you taken her."

It was Harry who explained. "She still has the Voldemort horcrux in her head. You just heard the same explanation that I did. When she begins the Quest, that horcrux will perish. It's probably why Cotto and Firenze cheated to include her on the Quest. The last shard of Voldemort is unlikely to depart without a fight. I'm quite sure she was planning to kill herself. Ron was just too quick for Voldemort."

"I'm sorry, I guess my mind wandered for part of the explanation. Still, if the horcrux was able to kill Narcissa, it has had ample time to exact its revenge and hasn't done so. In the interest of absolute safety, I see that Ron only did what had to be done. We must discuss the rules of the Quest over lunch. I guess if I am to be honest with myself, I was lamenting that poor Narcissa, rather than myself has to bear the rigors and hazards of the Quest. I was very willing to go with you."

"I know you were," I assured her, "and that is very brave of you, but Jaden and Narcissa have had Quest training. When I was forced to take Narcissa, I had no choice but to add Barb to keep an eye on her. I won't pretend that this is my ideal choice of assistants. I didn't even give Narcissa that much training. I didn't want to increase her fighting skills. I think you are wrong about the horcrux. Voldemort would be reluctant to kill the last little piece of himself and if he killed Narcissa, he was finished. Now he knows that if Narcissa goes on the Quest, he is finished and she gets to live. He won't allow that. He would rather end his line than have it continued by kin he regards as traitors."

"That's likely true. I'm quite sure that you can trust her, especially if that piece of Voldemort will be gone. I can understand that you don't want your Quest to be quite so much a Voldemort family affair and that Narcissa has betrayed your trust more than once."

"She betrayed me quite a bit more than once. She never betrayed my trust, because I never trusted her."

"That's past. Now you have to trust each other. Both of your lives depend upon it, as well as some other lives which I know you care about very much."

Unfortunately, McGonagall spoke the plain truth. I would have to find a way to get along with and make Narcissa a valuable part of the team, galling as I found that thought to be.

Lunch featured spicy crab cakes, pumpkin soup, and vegetarian curries. Neville seemed determined that we would be sent off on our Quest with very full bellies. The large supply of tasty food was also a reward for all who were helping us prepare for the Quest. Everyone had labored to the point of mental or physical exhaustion for the past two weeks.

There was a lot to be discussed over lunch. Many Questers were in need of a Keeper. Kings Gobbledegook and Cotto stepped forward to assist their daughters. Aragag told us it wasn't really a spider thing. Aagog traveled with the best wishes of her community, but without a keeper. Bane volunteered as Keeper for Cantring and Unstaad for Pegasus. The Keepers for the Witches proved more contentious.

Viktor for Cho was simple. Then McGonagall volunteered to be Keeper for Narcissa. Draco instantly objected.

"You've been monopolizing and chasing after my mother in a most unseemly manner. She has made it abundantly clear to you, more than once as a matter of fact, that she has no desire to return to the way things were between the two of you in her senior year. She came to Malfoy Manor to escape your cloying presence. She doesn't need yet another link to you. I will be mother's keeper."

"That's preposterous, I was just trying to protect her and you weren't even speaking to her."

"We did speak after she returned to Malfoy Manor, and she made her feelings towards you very clear."

Next up was Mafalda. Victoria and McGonagall both volunteered to be Keeper. I thought that rather than chasing after Narcissa, McGonagall really, really wanted to be a Keeper. She had always wanted to be Keeper and was disappointed that her Ravenclaw ring didn't buy her as many privileges as she felt were her due.

Mafalda chose Victoria, apologetically telling McGonagall "thank you for volunteering and I'm quite sure you'd do an excellent job for me, but Victoria and I understand each other in a way nobody else could. We are kindred spirits. You're used to living amidst the mob which is Hogwarts. Victoria and I are used to living on our own. My spirit requires solitude."

I didn't like that. Yet another Witch who was likely to feel crowded and hemmed in underground with a rambunctious Quest team, by which I guess I meant Cissy. I had counted on Mafalda as a calm, stabilizing presence, who would not be fazed by sleeping on stone or the rigors of the Quest. Living beyond primitive had been her norm. How could I have missed her need for solitude?

McGonagall accepted Mafalda's explanation with almost good cheer. Then Barb surprised us all by asking McGonagall to be her Keeper. McGonagall was delighted to accept.

We did take time to quickly review our current understanding of the Quest rules. McGonagall had missed a bit. As we got to the part about the final, forfeit the Quest retreat position, I confirmed with Dad that Castle Weasley's throne room was indeed stocked for fighting as well as resisting a siege. I was pleased that this retreat was readied, even though I had a nagging feeling that it wasn't the best choice. It had the advantages of being large enough for the entire Quest team, being heavily magicked, and having direct access to a powerful circle. On the downside it was known to be Weasley, Umbridge had nearly discovered it and some of her associates remained at large, and most significant to me: Erasmus had the run of the rest of the castle. I did not fully trust that Wizard and in the months since we had last visited the castle, he may well have managed to enter the throne room. It seemed a chancy refuge.

It took me until dinner to get all of the Keepers trained, equipped with rings, and blessed with the proper approvals such that their rings could be fully activated. McGonagall chose the Ravenclaw ring. I was able to get it approved and to fully activate it. When she discovered that its powers had increased somewhat – really not all that much at all – she accosted me.

"Why were you unwilling to make those adjustments in your prior attempts?"

"You didn't have the approvals from the Unicorns, Centaurs, Goblins, Dad, and Harry or Cissy to be a Keeper. Keeper rings must be blessed by Unicorn tears and Dad's Ministry Seal, before they are truly active."

"You could have told me that."

"I could have, but it would only have forced Dad or Bane to give you a direct refusal. You were dealing with me, I didn't want to subject the others to your constant wheedling."

She lapsed into silence, with a sour expression.

While Hermione and I were engaged with the Keepers, other willing hands worked on the final packing. We would all be carrying backpacks and copies of Hermione's magical bag, when we returned to the cave. This would be just the Questers. Our Keepers had to remain outside the cave. Since Adrienne wasn't coming with us, we wouldn't be carrying as many art supplies as I had originally intended to take. We still had a fair number of canvases and tubes of paint, because both Cissy and Jaden felt that painting would improve their mood. I might paint a little also. None of us were nearly as prolific as Adrienne. Over half of the art materials we had packed were for her.

I was sure enough that the first stop of the Quest would be the Chamber of Secrets that I decided to tour the chamber with my Quest team and Keepers.

I considered where the circle might be located. Right in front of the entrance to the basilisk's lair seemed the only possible spot. This was where the cavern was widest and tallest. The stone shelf, where I had almost died, while not the site of pleasant memories did seem the most comfortable spot to camp and sleep. I knew that the basilisk lair was empty, although I suppose a God could quickly refill it, and the entrance was locked. Still, we'd carry the Rod of Asclepias in somebody's hands, just to have it ready. We'd also have mirrors handy. I thought a special curse firing team should be ready for instant action as soon as we were transported here. I was looking at a safe and empty cave, except for our pre-positioned stones and other supplies, but knew that a deity could alter this scene in the instant it took my Stone to transport us here.

As I thought about supplies, I realized that a half ton of silver certainly made a smaller pile than my mind had imagined. We would need more for the Quest, perhaps even more than this quantity to rebuild this first circle from scratch. Setting the stones in silver takes a lot of silver, this just wasn't enough. It was a huge mistake to have made. A half ton had just seemed so much silver. Hermione said she'd run a quick calculation and ask Stewart to order up the necessary silver supply from Tony. I hated to be further in hock to Tony.

Dinner was full-on banquet of Chinese and Indian food, with the necessary raw beef for Aagog. We must be feeding her well, Aagog had grown in her less than two weeks with us. I chowed down shamelessly, taking a little of everything. It might be a long, long time until I could again sample such an extravaganza of spice. The banquet ended at nine. That left three hours for final preps, which turned into one hour of preps and two hours of killing time and trying to keep everyone's nerves under control.

One of the final preps was assembling all the pets and making sure that the pet's owners had remembered to pack any necessary pet food. I had my owl and several bags of owl food, although I expected that Soarer could find a way to hunt her own dinner.

In addition to Cruikshanks, we had Cissy's newly acquired cat Prometheus II. She and Prometheus had only two weeks to bond, before setting off on the Quest. Other pets included a ferret, a collie dog, the two phoenixes, a rather large hawk belonging to Cantring, a rather large constrictor-type snake, and a double-ended blast skrewt. The latter beast belonged to Tendra, who claimed it to be both quite tame and a very fierce fighter and digger.

We arrived at the cave of the Elfs and Goblins at five minutes before midnight. Our Keepers and Dad, along with the three Kings came with us, but waited outside the cave, waving goodbye as we moved beyond the mouth of the cave.

We clearly weren't going to start before midnight. Cotto and Firenze were at first silent, then Firenze suggested "perhaps you should take a last look at the moon, the stars, and your well-wishers, before you begin the Quest."

We did that. It's not as though I didn't desire a last look at Harry, Ron, and Dad, I was just in the super-nerved state where I just wanted to spend a quiet moments with my team. That's how I almost always prepared for Quidditch matches and I had found it the best way to steady mine and everybody else's nerves. Part of me wanted a last quick snog with Harry, the other part of me wanted to huddle with my assistants. The snog Harry half won. I was out of the cave for only ninety seconds, then standing next to Hermione as we faced Cotto and Firenze.

At what was undoubtedly the dot of midnight, Cotto put his watch in his pocket and pulled out a paper scroll.

"Welcome to the start of your Quest. It is most unusual that one of your assistants is unconscious," Cotto commented to me as he glanced at Narcissa, before returning to his scroll.

"Quests are most serious and dangerous missions undertaken by only our bravest and most capable females. You undertake this Quest on behalf of all magical creatures and on their behalf, we thank you. I see that you have added Keepers for all of your Questers. That is a safer approach. They may not be needed, but they can help and may just preserve your lives. You know the rules, but let me give you just a little more detail.

"At least one of us will meet with you like this immediately prior to the next stop on your Quest. We will tell you and in most cases, you will be allowed to communicate the destination to your Keepers and they will have a short time to do what they can to improve the likelihood of your success. The Stone will transport at least one of them and what that person can carry to your next destination and remove them prior to your arrival. Your first destination is what you call the Chamber of Secrets. As you discovered, before either of us did, this chamber housed the original Hogwarts circle, well before the Sacred Cavern circle existed. You may now communicate with a Keeper.

I messaged Harry. I confirmed the location and the reminder to deliver more silver.

"Now that I have your complete attention again, I will define your assignment. You must build a magical circle using the stones located in the Cave of the Spiders. You must power this circle and tune it, so that it works in concert with the other circles in the area. The circle does not have to be at full power. You will leave the circle so that you can control it through either the Black Stone or the circle in the Sacred Cavern.

"I cannot tell you why another Hogwarts circle is required. The Black Stone is certainly aware that it is surrounded by a working circle, which wasn't in service a year ago. I do know that Hogwarts sits on the site which has always been the locus of this world's greatest magical strength. This new circle may be needed to balance the strength of the circles you will activate elsewhere on this world.

"Mark the spot where you are standing. All or any member of the team may exit the Quest at any time, by merely apparating back to this site. This is a free exit pass, at least for your first four stops. If one member drops out, the rest of the team may continue. If a member cannot apparate back to this spot on her own power, the person who apparates her here must also depart the Quest. No replacement will be allowed for any participant who drops out during the first four stations of the Quest. I strongly suggest that you arrange for a healer and helper to be present in this cave at all times. I will pause so that you may communicate this information to a Keeper. The Keepers should know that you will leave this cave at exactly 4:00 A.M. They and the healer may not enter the cave before then."

I communicated all of this to Harry. He promised to have a healer and two aurors as well as two Goblin guards in the cave at all times. I sensed unease, as this request reminded him that a Quester might be apparating to this cave in very much the same condition as Umbridge had departed Malfoy Manor.

"When you leave the Chamber of Secrets, having completed your assignment, you may remove whatever you can carry with you. Your Keepers are allowed to remove whatever you leave behind. No other person may remove any of your supplies or construction materials. Magic will be fully operative at this first Quest station. I cannot tell you whether or not you will meet a God or Goddess at this stop. I know that you visited the Chamber of Secrets this afternoon. That is legal under Quest rules, but I remind you that much can change in twelve hours. The chamber may not still be as you left it. That is all that we have to say to you at this time. You may confer among yourselves, message your Keepers, or nap for the next two hours.

"As a kindness to Narcissa, I should add that just as during our last meeting in this cave, we are operating under Quest rules and the aura of the Light Guardian. You should be able to safely awaken Narcissa."

"I was thankful that I had asked Ron to reverse his spell and had substituted my own. Narcissa would have waited three hours for Ron's spell to wear off."

I awakened Narcissa, explained the situation, and offered her dinner, which we had carried with us for her. As she ate, Barb and I watched her closely. I trusted that Cotto was likely correct that the Voldemort horcrux did not pose a threat, but wasn't going to take a chance. Voldemort was a bold risk taker and he had nothing left to lose. Whatever agony the Light Guardian aura might cause him as he tried to take over Narcissa's mind and kill her, he would take the chance. It was the last chance he had.

"It is a minute until you depart," Firenze finally announced. Gather your things and link hands with me. Cotto apparated atop Firenze's back, the rest of us linked hands.

I was at the end of the line holding the Rod of Asclepias. Barb was at the other end, wand drawn.

Cotto, staring at his watch declared "now!"

In a flash, we were standing on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets. I just had time to orient myself, when I heard a pop and Firenze and Cotto were gone. We were alone in the Chamber. The Chamber was alight. I could see that the seal to the Basilisk's lair remained sealed.

Many of our supplies were gone. The silver and all of the stones, including the replicas of the Stonehenge bluestones were exactly where we had left them. Everything else was missing. It wasn't tragic, although a lot of amenities were gone. We had carried with us everything that we actually needed. Two very nice tents, a pre-set bonfire, a pile of quite interesting food, a hundred gallons of water, and one of Ellie's monoliths were gone. We were carrying lots of supplies. We had been careful to pack lots of chocolate, including metal tins of cocoa powder and dark chocolate bars in tins, but just as much chocolate which we had left in the cave was now gone. I knew that this couldn't be replaced. I thought we had more than enough chocolate remaining, but it had just become a somewhat scarce item.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Twelve – Building A Circle From Scratch**

I noticed almost immediately that many of our supplies were gone. The silver and all of the stones, including the replicas of the Stonehenge bluestones were exactly where we had left them. The piles of straw and hay for the equines, as well as a pile of raw meat for Aagog were also where we left them. Everything else was missing.

It wasn't tragic, although a lot of amenities were gone. We had carried with us everything that we actually needed. Two very nice tents, a pre-set bonfire, a pile of quite interesting food, a hundred gallons of water, and one of Ellie's monoliths were gone. We were carrying lots of supplies. We had been careful to pack lots of chocolate, including metal tins of cocoa powder and dark chocolate bars in tins, but just as much chocolate which we had left in the cave was now gone. I knew that this couldn't be replaced. I thought we had more than enough chocolate remaining, but it had just become a somewhat scarce item.

I knew that the Chamber of Secrets was normally reached through a long, twisty tunnel at the narrow end, far from where we were standing. It was too dark to see into that area. The first order of business was to search the dark end of the cavern and the tunnel to confirm that we really were alone.

I asked the others to set up camp, while Hermione, Barb, Barb's collie, and a phoenix searched the tunnel. I reminded them to keep two wands pointed at the seal to the basilisk's lair, lest a nasty surprise sneak up behind them.

That reminded me to set up the monolith which Ellie had lent to us. Hermione, Cissy, Barb, and I had all been taught how to operate it. I didn't know how much protection it could provide us against unwanted guests apparating into our camp, but wanted the security of any possible defense. This was a shaky defense – I knew that Catta could defeat it at will, just as all the Elves could apparate through the Hogwarts defenses. Using our full Stone powers, Hermione and I had also been able to apparate into an area protected by the monolith. In our experiment, Cissy and Barb could not do this. While it is likely arrogant to think a God would have less apparating ability than myself, I hoped to be protected against at least weak or not fully capable Gods.

With the monolith in operation, we set off toward the dark end of the chamber, with Barb's collie leading the way. Every few seconds one of us lobbed another ball of light ahead of us. I saw nothing. The collie was happily sniffing the ground and wagging its tail in a manner which suggested that a danger was not lying in wait ahead of us. I guess that assumes that a collie is able to smell a God.

Barb assured me that she was not sensing danger. That made me feel more secure, as I lobbed another ball of light ahead of us and into the first tunnel turning. Because the tunnel twisted so much, I could only see ten feet ahead of me. The walls were also a lot closer together and the ceiling only half as high as when we entered the tunnel. The closeness made me feel uneasy, although I saw no threat.

As we approached the second turning, I heard a scuffling noise ahead of us. I fired an 'off!' over the collie's head, then shouted 'shield!'. Hermione reached around the turning in the tunnel to fire her own 'off!', before Barb pushed her way into the lead. Her collie was now barking furiously as she charged ahead of all of us. I flattened myself against the side wall of the tunnel, wand pointed forward.

I sensed motion close to the ground and just avoiding cursing the collie, as it walked back to us with quite a large rat clutched in her jaws. I'm not a fan of large rats, but sooner that than our first encounter with a God who chose to be as sneaky as any God hiding this far up the tunnel would have to be.

I relaxed and started to walk further into the tunnel. Barb was not at all relaxed, as she once again took the lead.

"It would be an easy trick to use a rat to district us from a more serious threat. Stay behind me."

Hermione and I obediently stayed behind Barb, but we did not find anything more serious than a smaller rat, before we reached the end of the tunnel and the shaft up to the Moaning Myrtle bathroom.

"Too easy an entrance from Hogwarts," Barb pointed upward. "I'm going to install an alarm spell and a caterwauling spell, so that an enemy Wizard can't sneak up on us."

We returned to the rest of the group. I apologized to them for not yet sending the first shift off to their beds. "I know it's late, actually is almost daybreak up above, but we need to make sure we're alone before the first half of us gets to sleep. Please keep organizing our camp, while we check out the basilisk's lair."

Hermione and Barb set up in guard position, prepared to launch an 'ex-term-mee-nate!' curse against anything nasty which might be present behind the seal, while I stood to the side and spoke Parseltongue to the seal.

As the seal gave way and the statue parted, I hastened to get behind Hermione and Barb. When the gap was barely wide enough a lobbed several balls of light from my wand into the lair. I saw a shadow off to my left and fired 'Off!' at where I thought the source of the shadow must be located. There was no return fire and no motion at all.

"What were you cursing?" Barb asked me.

I confessed to perhaps imagining a presence in the play of light and shadow caused by the still moving inner edges of the statue. I lobbed in several more balls of light, but couldn't see the shadow anymore. Something smaller than a basilisk could have hidden out of our line of sight behind the edges of the now stationary statue.

"No choice but to explore from inside the basilisk lair," Barb told me. "I'll do it. You and Hermione are the practiced double-curse team anyway. I'd feel safer if you set the monolith so that I can apparate behind you, if I run into trouble."

I did that, alerting the rest of my team to halt their unpacking and watch for the possibility of an intruder apparating into our midst.

"I'm going to apparate to the rear of the lair," Barb told us. "On three, but please lob a ball of light on two. Okay, one, two, three."

She was gone, to instantly appear at the rear of the lair, facing us with her wand pointed to the right. She crouched down almost immediately, as the pivoted to face the corner on her left.

"Nothing here," she shouted. "Join me and I'll check behind the rear seal."

We stood guard as Barb used her ring to open the rear seal of the basilisk's lair. The space was empty. We all knew that beyond this point lay the outlets from the Hogwarts drains, the larger drain going down th the Goblin utility cavern, and beyond stairs to the tunnel which led to the cave where we began our Quest.

Hermione and I guarded Barb, while Barb installed alarm and caterwauling charms on the far side of the seal. She planned to place other alarms inside the lair and on our side of the statue. Once the rear entrance to the lair was closed, I felt safe leaving Barb and Hermione.

While they were engaged with installing the rest of our magical defenses, I returned to the rest of our group, dividing us into two halves and encouraging the second half to get some sleep. I assigned Narcissa to our half, not trusting her enough to sleep while she was awake. Also, I wanted her awake so that I could check on her health. Now that I knew the cavern was secure, my next priority was checking whether Narcissa still had the Voldemort horcrux inside her head.

"Do you feel any different?" I asked her. "If Cotto and Firenze are correct, your horcrux should be gone. Did you feel anything more than a normal ride-along apparate?"

"I don't know for certain, but I think perhaps it felt different. The sense of a ride-along depends so much upon who is doing the apparating. This time I felt a very slight sharp pain in my head and heard a short, shrill whistle. That's all new. My mind suddenly felt slightly vacant and then expanded, if that makes any sense. It wouldn't surprise me if the horcrux is gone, but you brought your viewers. We can walk to the dark end of the cavern and you can check me out."

I waited for Hermione and to finish applying the alarm charms and then I grabbed a viewer and we did that. Barb came with Hermione and me, just in case the horcrux had survived and was feeling feisty. As we walked toward the dark end of the cavern, I felt confident that the horcrux had departed.

The viewer confirmed my belief. The glow we had previously seen around Narcissa's head was gone. Cotto and Firenze had been correct. I wondered if the Stone had told them to do this, or if they were just that far ahead of me.

"I hope that you will trust me now," Narcissa pleaded in her logical tone of voice. "The Quest will be dangerous enough and it will be difficult enough for your team to maintain the necessary positive attitude, without you expecting that I am about to betray or murder you. I think the logical side of you knows that I saved Harry, that I was dominated by my husband and phony sister, that the horcrux and ghost controlled my mind (for I hesitate to think how much of the time), and that protecting Draco was always at the front of my mind. You are seeing the real me for the first time. I may be seeing the real me for the first time. I hope we both like the real me and that we can start to trust each other and work together."

"I think that is possible," I told her.

"Thank you, may I have my wand back? I feel uncomfortable and frankly a little frightened facing the hazards of the Quest without my wand. I also won't be much use in building this circle if I must work with just my bare hands. I'm not that physically strong."

"Sorry, I forgot that I still have your wand. It was just a precaution against Voldemolt ordering you to kill yourself, as Lucius did. I was hoping you didn't have his skill at the wandless 'Avada Kedavra'."

I returned her wand. She smiled as she stowed it in her robes. I was once again startled at the incongruity of seeing Narcissa Malfoy, or Narcissa Caulfield, as she now preferred to call herself, in the white robes of a Light Guardian priestess.

"Okay, crew, the cavern is empty for now, but that can change at any time. Obviously someone has been here in the last twelve hours and stolen some of our gear. Keep your wands handy, while we deploy Madame Delacour's boar defenses. I'm going to hang two packets from the ceiling and put two others over against the far side wall, so don't wander next to them. The final two are in Hermione's bag."

Hermione and I unwrapped the foil around four of the anti-boar packets and positioned them. The ones on the roof of the cavern could be dropped to the floor by a simple spell from any of us. I remembered Madame Delacour's warning to perform extreme cleansing spells on our hands and arms, after deploying the packages.

"We have a lot of work to do, but we have some tricks that the ancients didn't use," I told my associates. "We are going to do a lot of Witch sculpture to speed the work. At least we have all the stones we will need, and we don't need to mess with the dimensions of the cavern. The ancients spent a lot of time on those things."

"We have another advantage," Hermione told us, as she began drawing lines in the floor with a pointed metal stick. "The ring depressions in the stone floor, in which the stones were anchored in silver – they must still be here somewhere. There's a lot of dirt, bones, and basilisk droppings covering the stone floor, but there's stone under here and the depressions will show us where the stones are supposed to go. I thought perhaps we can get a quick start on that, before half of us sleep."

Hermione and Barb started to scratch lines along the floor with pointed metal stakes. It didn't take long before Barb encountered a soft spot, which could be the location for one of the stone rings.

We all used spells to clean the trough, which turned out to be three feet wide and four inches deep. It was going to take a lot of silver to fill it up. While Harry and Ron had greatly increased our pile of silver bars, I was worried that it still might not be enough. I wondered what had become of the silver used for the original circle.

"Okay, we all know where we're going to be working for the next several shifts. Given the width of the trench, this is the outer ring. While the second shift sleeps, we'll continue to clean out this trench and try to find the inner ring. I knew the size of the stones from the inner circle, so I expected that trench to be a little less than a foot wide."

Half of our group was crawling into sleeping bags. My suggestion that we sleep near the entry to the basilisk lair had been rejected. It was too bright and too loud. The sleeper carried their gear to the narrow, dark end of the chamber.

Barb had wanted to be on my shift, so that she could better protect me. I argued against this, telling her "Hermione and I are well able to defend ourselves – while we're awake. We can't protect ourselves while we sleep. That is when we need your help."

Barb instantly accepted the logic of my argument and turned to follow the others to the rear of the chamber.

Just as Barb turned to leave, a young Witch appeared between Barb and me.

"Hold your fire," I shouted, then speaking to the young Witch, I promised "we come in peace to build a magical circle. We mean you no harm."

"And I mean you no harm," the young Witch told me. "I am Brighid. This cavern is part of my domain. I approve of your efforts to rebuild this circle. I remember it well. It was a source of power to me."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Thirteen – Brighid**

"So we don't need to contest you or negotiate with you for the right to build this circle," I asked with great relief.

"Of course not. It is in my interest. I also know that your people and you honor me at Bealtaine. You are a part of my flock. It is from such as you that I gain what remaining strength I have. I am not half what I was when I was in my glory. Rebuilding this circle should help a little, but I fear my time is passing."

"Yes, my friend and assistant Mafalda said that you reported the passing of your sister Brigantia, when you met with her."

"Yes, poor Brigantia had given up hope that this circle would ever be restored. She felt herself all but forgotten, with all reservoirs of strength removed from her. A pity she didn't hold out just a little longer. The call of BeyondWorld was just too strong in her. She felt that this was no longer her world and that she must seek new relevance in the Beyond. The Valkyrie visited us and convinced her that she could be of service. I'm not a warrior like my sisters, so the entreaty of the Valkyrie held no appeal for me.

"But you say that my old friend Mafalda is with us. I must greet her."

"She sleeps in the far end of the chamber," I pointed the direction.

Brighid abandoned me and went to seek out Mafalda. I had much to ask Brighid, but it could wait. I mused to Hermione that I had thought Brighid was supposed to be an old crone, not a beautiful young Witch.

"She is both. You are thinking of her fall and winter appearance. It is still just early summer. She is in her prime. She'll start to age rapidly after the summer solstice. I'm tired too, but we should get back to clearing the floor."

I did just that. Doing my bit to scrape, gouge, and charm the dirt and detritus of centuries from the tracks of the stone circles. Narcissa was a surprisingly industrious worker, as was Cissy. Cissy was still in the early stages of enthusiasm for a new activity in which she viewed mucking out the path of the circle as a great adventure, even as her white priestess garb was turning grey up to her boobs. Looking down, I saw that my robes were also much the worse for my activities. White was very impractical for building a magical circle.

We had made a lot of progress by the time that Mafalda and Brighid walked up to us. I was able to clearly display the course of both the inner and outer stone circles to Brighid, with the question "is this how you remember the circle? I think we've even discovered where the lodestone is supposed sit – just here in this depression. We haven't fully cleared the spot yet, but I believe this is the place."

"Yes dear, you are doing great work, and it brings back pleasant memories to once again see the outline of my own magical circle. Well, really it belonged to all three of us."

"Does that mean that you are the Goddess of Hogwarts?" I asked Brighid.

"No, that is not I, although this chamber was mine, before Slytherin stole it. The one you seek is a warrior. I thought it best to greet you first myself. My associate can appear a bit… fierce. I also wanted to share my wisdom, before she shares her. Though not a Goddess, she tends to eclipse me with her fierceness. She figuratively grabs her audience by the throat and shakes them until they listen to what she is saying – sometimes until she senses that they agree with what she is saying.

She is a good warrior and she means well. She can be a truly loyal friend or a very unfortunate enemy to have. She is like you: not a Goddess, but more than a Witch. She was almost a Mother. She led a Quest, but abandoned it. She has felt badly about that ever since, but I really don't believe she had any choice. She did what needed to be done to save her assistants. She thought she would have to pay with her life for their freedom. Instead, she gained an almost immortality and a status little better than slave, until the death of her new master. He was a truly filthy, nasty, rotten God. Be glad you don't have to face him.

"I won't tell you her life story. Scathatch enjoys telling it so much, I wouldn't deprive her of the pleasure. I'm here to make the introduction, but also to give you my own advice and help. I don't know whether my remaining sister will be helper or foe, which is why I chose to come alone. She is not in a good mood. Summer is not the Cailleach's preferred season."

"I am pleased that you are willing to help us. I hope that we prove worthy. Your associate sounds most intriguing. I myself have been called a fierce warrior by the Goblin King, although I don't grab my listeners by their throats. What advice can you offer us?"

"Listen closely to my friend Scathatch. She has actual Quest experience. Both Cotto and Firenze are mainly guessing, although they do receive direction from the Stone and the Stone loosely from the Light Guardian. Trust in the goodness of the Light Guardian, but know that the Stone is imperfect. It remembers the long-ago magical peoples and knows little of today. You teach it as much at it teaches you. It has its own interests, which you can use to your advantage.

"Mainly, it does not wish to be turned off again. As powerful as it is, you and your associates are its link to the world. If you die and aren't replaced, the Stone will quickly be required to go dormant again, possibly forever. That's part of why it is interested in turning on more circles. It can communicate with some of them and wants you to build and repair in a way that permits it to communicate with or even control all of the circles you work on. The Stone will help you, at least for now, but it is not above trying to control you. It is a very powerful tool, which you must treat with utmost caution.

"I am rambling too much. It is the chance to reminisce with my old friend Mafalda, which has scattered my mind. You should know that I plan to accompany you on your Quest and to help you as I can. I don't follow the same Quest rules as you may have to follow. I can come and go at will. I am a Goddess. Still, there are places where a light Goddess dare not tread.

"My associate Scathatch will also travel with you and fight by your side. She will tell you what she can contribute to your Quest. Listen to her, but try to keep a tight rein.

"What do I offer? Some Gods and Goddesses like me. A very few fear me, or at least they feared my sisters. The three of us together were quite a force. You were told that fire is important to your Quest. I can control the eternal flame. I will bring it when I return. I have my pet Wolfy, who can help keep my sister's nasty giant boar in check, if that becomes necessary. The Cailleach pretends otherwise, but she can control the beast, when she wishes to do so. It is really just a very fierce pet. It won't harm you, unless my sister wishes that you be harmed.

"I understand that you have French boar defenses. Ripe apples and truffles by the smell. I hope you haven't potioned them. My sister would take that as a very great insult."

"Not poisoned, they are merely meant as a distraction," Hermione assured her.

"That's good, the Cailleach may well be of assistance to you. You wouldn't want to inadvertently get on her bad side. She does have a bad temper, when she feels that she or her beast haven't been treated well. If you anger her, stay away from water, or even wet soil. It is worth your life to remember that. You should be safe. I can usually jolly her out of her bad moods. She spends most of summer in at least a poor mood.

"I shall depart for the moment. I just wanted to warn you about Wolfy, before I showed up with him. He's usually very gentle, but he is a very large wolf. He's actually a werewolf who hasn't been able to change back to his Wizard form – been trapped for two millennia. My father did that to him. Caught the two of us together. We've been together ever since. I understand that you want to talk among yourselves."

Before I could say a word, Brighid was gone.

"What can you tell us about Brighid and Scathatch?" I asked Mafalda.

"She is one of the friendly Goddesses. You can trust that she will do her best to help you. She likes Witches. She seemed quite drawn to the two of you. It helped that I told her about our Bealtaine celebration, the ceremony for Little Erin, and the bonfire. I let her know that you are most definitely my kind of Witch: brave, good-hearted, adventurous, not a stick-in-the-mud, and not into this Quest for your own glory or fortune. I told her that the two of you come with my highest recommendation."

"Okay, so what is the downside of Brighid as an ally?"

"She's a Goddess, but you shouldn't assume that she is a very powerful Goddess. Of the three sisters, she was the nicest and the wisest, but also the least powerful. She leaned on Brigantia a lot for strength and stability. I fear she has taken the loss of her favorite sister most severely. I'm pleasantly surprised that she has chosen to remain with us. She was also the most optimistic of the sisters. She has knowledge of the Quest, but most of that knowledge comes from Scathatch."

"And what can you tell us of Scathatch?"

"She's not a Goddess, but she is feared. She is very fierce and can be quite violent. She is fearless. She will challenge a God. The Gods often dislike her. She is not at all careful to avoid giving offense. She might get your whole team in trouble if she adopts the fierce mood at the wrong time. She doesn't back down. She is totally loyal. You will have to convince her to join your Quest and you will have to earn her loyalty, but once you have done so, she will be totally committed to helping you. She is to be trusted. If she says she is on your side, then she is. If not, she'll walk away. Well, if you offend her, she'll probably fight you first. She knows magic and does well in a magical battle, but she is unrivalled in a non-magical fight. I think you will like her. Don't be deferential, but it is important to be polite and give her the proper respect due her status."

"Which is?"

"Of course, I forget that students don't learn about her, as they did at Hogwarts back in my time there. Well, she is the 'Goddess of Hogwarts', although the Goddess part is an exaggeration. She certainly is a legend – a fighter of reknown and the one who drove Slytherin from Hogwarts. She cut off his beard, stuffed it in his mouth, and told him to be on his way, if he chose to continue breathing air. He chose to leave. He left the basilisk as his final revenge, although the chamber behind his statue was originally meant to also be his tomb. He didn't want a tomb on the lawn, as Dumbledore has. He wanted to be visited and revered by future pure-blood Wizards of Slytherin House, but he had no desire for his tomb or his remains to be visited by lesser Wizards.

"So how should I define Scathatch? Beyond being a legendary warrior and the savior of Hogwarts, she is a near Goddess and a companion of Gods and Goddesses. She was a friend of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. She was the best Hogwarts student of her year, part of the third class to graduate. Is that enough?"

"Yes, and I promise to treat her with respect. I'm surprised that we didn't learn of her from Professor Binns or Professor McGonagall."

"As you might imagine, there came a time when studying she who banished Slytherin was not the done thing. This was about the same time that an uppity, distinctly non-submissive Witch as a role model for young Witches, most definitely became not the done thing. She just quietly slipped from first the Ministry exam and then from the curriculum. It really is a very great loss. I think she provided good balance to the bulk of Wizard history that was taught at Hogwarts. She was a great warrior, but like Godric Gryffindor, she was possessed of a great sense of honor."

I didn't feel like it, but I went back to scouring the floor. I suggested that Mafalda really ought to get some sleep. Looking at her, I knew that to be a lost cause. The ancient Witch was very excited and determined to wait up for Brighid's return. She also missed Wolfy.

We were nearly finished with our shift and totally dead tired by the time Brighid returned. Wolfy walked tamely by her side, but he was truly enormous. I had seen Harry's memories of Professor Lupin as werewolf and that was scary, but Wolfy was twice that size.

I said hello to Brighid, but told her that I needed to alert the sleepers and see to the terrified pets. Cruikshanks had vanished and Barb's collie was huddled up against her and wailing.

Barb awoke, instantly alert to danger, as I approached her.

"The Goddess Brighid has joined us, with her pet Wolfy. Wolfy seems calm enough, but all the animals are terrified." I pointed to her collie.

"It's time to be brave, Harry," Barb spoke to her dog. She almost immediately caught herself and looked abashed as she asked me "is it too weird that I named my pet Harry?"

"Almost," I told her. "At least I know you have no interest in stealing my Harry."

"That true, I like and respect him, but no interest. He is just so much the focus of my professional life, that his is the first male name which came to mind when I got my own Harry a few months ago."

She stroked Harry and he quieted.

Barb insisted that Harry must be introduced to Wolfy, before the two of them developed too strong a dislike for each other. At first Harry had to be nearly dragged toward Wolfy, but he was an obedient animal and finally walked on his own power.

As we approached, I saw Mafalda on her knees, hugging Wolfy around his neck and stroking the fur on his back. Wolfy seemed tame enough, but I knew how dangerous werewolves were. One burst of defensive anger, one bite, and the life a Witch had known up until that point would be over. She'd be an outcast and a captive of the moon for the rest of her days.

Wolfy played nice with Harry. They sniffed each other, then Harry turned and led Barb back to the dark end of the cave.

"I'm sorry," I asked Brighid "but what if Wolfy bites one of us, for whatever reason? Will we be turned into werewolves?"

"It's unlikely, but possible," she replied. "Wolfy is not an ordinary werewolf. He didn't get this way by being bitten. He was cursed. He understands what happened to him and his anger is directed solely at males. He's bitten perhaps a dozen Wizards and one God over the years. He's only produced one werewolf. You needn't worry about him. If he knows you are my friend, he will protect you. Just to be doubly safe, I'll let him watch me give each of you a friendly hug."

She hugged us all and Wolfy watched the whole ceremony. He showed no emotion. He did not have the crazed wolf look that Professor Lupin had at the full moon. I felt a bit safer.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fourteen – Scathach

The second crew were all up and breakfasting. We had a little fire in the center of the cavern. There was hot tea and coffee and even cooked bacon to go with the basic dried foods.

Introductions had been made to Brighid and Wolfy. I had explained the progress we made on the circle while the others slept. I knew that I should sleep. Barb ordered me to sleep. We were really all too excited to sleep, but I knew we must. I led the workers of my shift back to the dark sleeping area. I decided that we must clean our robes before sleeping. The white cleaned amazingly well, using just the standard charms. Hermione and I tried to use sleep charms to calm our companions. Cissy proved fairly impervious to them. This was much more a matter of her intense energy level than great defensive magical ability. Narcissa dropped right off, or at least pretended to, although I didn't think she could breathe that shallowly for long if she weren't truly sleeping. It would take a while to trust her in much of anything. I hooked Cissy into the whale song and hoped that would do the trick.

As soon as I lay down, I reached for Harry. I tried the whisper-link rather than the Stone. This was a lot more difficult and it took me ten minutes of intense concentration to reach Harry, but it seemed important. Brighid had spooked me a little about my over-reliance upon the Stone. I still felt that the Stone was my friend. It had saved my life, but it had inserted parts of itself into my head. It had been very helpful to me, but then it also needed me for its own purposes. I was afraid that the Stone might become the cell phone problem all over again. Relying upon an outside power for basic communication with my friends and husband could make me vulnerable. I'd still use the Stone, but not for 'secret' things.

{{Hi Harry. I've missed you already, although I've worked very hard and am more tired than I can remember. I've met a friendly Goddess Brighid who is bringing a warrior friend, Scathach, to help on the Quest. All is well, but Brighid has me a tad worried that my Stone may have some ulterior motives of its own and isn't above manipulating me. I have no reason to believe this is definitely true, but it makes at least some sense. Brigantia is definitely dead, according to Brighid, and the Cailleach Bheur may join us, but Brighid can't promise she'll be friendly. I have pieces of my Stone to use in the repairs so that I can control the circles through the Stone. I'm not sure that is wise. I want to do something different on this circle and see how the Stone and everyone reacts to my actions. Ask Ellie if I can use small pieces of her monolith, instead of my Stone pieces. Ask her where I can remove pieces from the monolith without seriously breaking it. I'm not sure it will be much use to us, anyway. Hermione set the apparation barriers and Brighid arrived and departed without problem. Reply by whisper, or try to contact me through the whales for the answers from Ellie. I'm going to contact you through the Stone for the rest of this discussion. I'm sure the Stone expects me to do that and will be suspicious if I don't.}}

{[Worried.] Message received. I'll tell Ellie that this is her top priority. Is this a serious in reality worry about the Stone, or has the underground already caused your mind to see imaginary threats?}

{{I don't know, Harry. I wish I did. The Stone is so powerful, it was always possible that it was a threat playing its own game. I don't even know how much Brighid understands about the Stone. The whole manner in which Quest information has been parsed our to me in dribs and drabs, by Gobbledegook, Cotto, Firenze, and the Stone is troubling. Knowing that there is a portion of the Stone which is closed off to me is also troubling. I don't know what to think.}}

{[More worried] If you can't trust King Gobbledegook, Cotto, and Firenze, then you have to be cautious about Tendra, Catta, and Cantring.}

{{I am cautious, Harry, although they've given me no reason to suspect them. Tendra is on my work shift and I'll try to quickly get a better impression of her. She is now truly cut off from her parents and is likely to reveal more. We all feel a little on edge. Friendly as he is, Wolfy doesn't help that.}}

I contacted Harry through the Stone and we had a normal conversation. I told him about Wolfy and every other uncensored thing that had occurred in my busy day. I told him how much I loved him. He told me that it was good to know that, because the Daily Prophet had already reported that I had abandoned my husband and run off to seek wealth, personal glory, and the chance to mate with a powerful and handsome young God. I think I left Harry less worried than he had been after our whisper-conversation. I was a little stressed and that was raising all sorts of questions and minor fears. I reminded myself that it would be best to realize that the rest of my team was likely having similar doubts and that it was my job to keep them calm and focused on their work.

I used my ancient priestess skills to fall off to sleep within seconds of breaking contact with Harry.

Cho woke me. "Time for your shift. Let me show you what we accomplished. Brighid wants to fetch Scathach, but thought she should wait until you were back in charge. Barb insists upon staying awake until we know Scathatch is safe."

Barb showed me the outline of the circle. The trenches for both the inner and outer circle were basically clear, although there apparently were deeper points in each circle, where the stones were meant to sit. They had only cleared out one of these holes in the outer circle. It was about a foot deep.

I told Brighid that now would be a good time to fetch Scathach. Both shifts would be awake for another couple hours, so Scathatch could meet everyone at the same time.

As soon as Brighid left, I gathered the whole team around me and asked if there was anything we needed to discuss.

"Wolfy frightens me," Tendra complained. "Goblins don't have dogs or wolves. Barb's dog is fine, but Wolfy is so big."

"Wolves attack Centaurs and Unicorns," Cantring told me. "We lose a member of the herd almost every other year."

"Wolfy scares me a little, also," I admitted, "but he seems quite tame and Brighid seems to have complete control of him. Can we try to get along with him?"

"Yes, please try," Mafalda pleaded. "Wolfy really is a loving beast who would risk his life to save yours. He knows you are now all friends of Brighid. He's not really a wolf. He's a captive Wizard."

"Makes his bite more dangerous," Cantring objected.

"Yes, there is a very small risk that Wolfy could transmit the werewolf sickness, but I think that too small a threat to worry over," Mafalda responded. "I've known Brighid and Wolfy for years. She rides upon his back. He really is more pet than wild animal. We all need to be brave and strong. This is an easy station on the Quest. There are real dangers ahead of us. Let's not worry about our friends, even if they are very new friends to some of us."

"Yes, let's all do our best to be confidant and to help our companions remain brave and strong and cheerful," I seconded Mafalda's request.

"Can we use your Stone to send messages back home?" Tendra was concerned that her father would worry about her.

I told her that I was sorry she was having difficulty. I thought I had shown everyone how to use the Stone for that purpose. I contacted the Stone, then Tendra and I worked together to try to reach King Gobbledegook. I also failed in the attempt, although I was able to reach Torva. I told her that her daughter had been unable to contact her the King and that he needed to get in touch with Harry for help. I left Tendra talking to her mother.

When I broke contact with the Stone, I saw that Brighid was back and that she and Scathach were almost patiently waiting for me to notice their presence.

"Excuse me, I was so wrapped up in trying to connect Tendra with her father that I didn't notice your arrival. You must be Scathach. I'm pleased to meet you. Do you shake hands."

She did, reluctantly, transferring a rather nasty looking spear to her left hand in order to do so. She was taller than me by several inches, had the appearance of a mid-thirties Witch, although I knew she was many times older than that, and most oddly dressed in coarse animal skins.

"I come to help you win your Quest, where I failed mine. I can give you much help. Brighid tells me that you are a good Witch whom I must trust. I trust Brighid, so I will trust you also."

"Thank you. Please allow me to introduce you to my assistants."

I went through the full roster of beings. Scathach decided that we expected to shake hands, which it seemed was not a normal practice for her. When that was finished, Scathatch quickly tested herself, pointing to each of us in order and correctly repeating our names.

"Now, to business," Scathach demanded.

Brighid interrupted her. "If I might just say a few things, before you begin. I've brought the fire which I promised you." She pointed to three long torches which were stuck into the dirt along the wall where Hermione had laid the Boar bait. Second, I forgot to tell you not to worry about feeding Wolfy and me. We can pop up to the surface to collect our own food. We can bring you some, if need be. You will have to feed Scathach and she eats more than her share. She is not quite a Goddess, so she is not exempt from the rules. Finally, I believe I have learned that your next stop is Azkaban. I ran into my sister the Cailleach and she told me that she is quite certain of that. I'm sorry to have interrupted you, Scathach, but I expect you have quite a lot to say and I didn't want to forget any of that."

"Perhaps I should speak in private with the Mother and her Muse," Scathatch suggested. "There are things that should be said Mother to Mother."

We went off to a vacant spot directly under the Slytherin statue. Scathatch said she didn't mind if we ate while she talked.

"I beat that Wizard and cut off his beard," she told us, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. "He was nasty to me. I was found as a wild Witch. That was a lot more common back then. That means I wasn't with either a Muggle or a Wizard family, when Hogwarts found me. I was twelve and performing strong magic. I had this hawthorn wand, so I know I must have had magical parents at some time earlier in my life. I barely remembered them and could tell Headmaster Ravenclaw nothing about them. She used the Pensieve to view my memories of my family, but they were blurry. My father looked very big and strong and my mother was too blurred to recognize anything but her smile and her bright green eyes."

She had pulled her wand from a belt at her waste and showed it to us.

"This is very much like the wands which we started to make for our first-borns, whenever we have first-borns. We did it as a Bealtaine celebration with family and friends," I told her. "I even have some magical sand selected to use in the handle, when the wand has dried enough to work on it some more. Your wand doesn't seem to have a core, or a handle."

"It wasn't the practice when I was young. It does fine by me, but I wouldn't mind trying some of your sand and a handle."

"Of course," I promised her. "We can make a handle from silver or from one of the stones. I didn't know what I'd need on the Quest, so I brought a good supply of sand with me. You are certainly welcome to try some."

She smiled as if I had just passed an important test. "Maybe later. First, we have much to do. I didn't have other magical peoples on my Quest. That may be a help or a problem for you. We didn't have the spiders when I was young. I don't like them. I will stay away from Aagog. She's not a big spider, but I don't like to be near her. It was hard for me to let her touch my hand."

"I understand," I assured her. "She totally freaks out my brother Ron. We met her mother and father and Ron barely survived that."

"I did not come here for my own Quest," Scathach confided. "I am called the Goddess of Hogwarts, but I am not supposed to be in this cavern and must never set foot in the chamber beyond the statue. That is part of my deal with Slytherin and the Gods who supported him. Do you know why they call the space behind the statue the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Because Slytherin hid a basilisk there. I met it and Slytherin's heir Tom Riddle, or Lord Voldemort. I almost died here. Harry rescued me."

"You are half right. The basilisk was a big secret, but it was not the only secret that Slytherin hid inside his Chamber of Secrets. He told me that I had disfigured him and forced him to abandon his home, but that he had left secrets behind his statue which would destroy me if I ever entered his chamber. He said that he had two secrets and that both of them were strong enough to destroy Hogwarts or to make it the exclusive preserve of the pure-blooded Wizard. He didn't approve of Witches at Hogwarts. He especially didn't approve of me, because my lack of identifiable parents meant I might be a Muggle-born or what he called 'something even more primitive and disgusting'. He was my professor for five classes over the years. He did everything within his power to have me thrown out of Hogwarts. So, I can't enter his secret chamber and I can't remain here for long, but I can…"

She stood, drew her wand, and fired a curse at the statue. We were showered by pieces of stone. Hermione and I both dove to the side, seeking to get out of the range of the pelting pebbles. We still took some good knocks.

I stood and gave Scathach a look.

"I'm sorry if that hurt a little," she half apologized. I wanted to leave Slytherin as I like to think of him… as I left him."

I turned and saw that the statue's beard had been chopped off at mustache height. It was appropriate. I have only seen a mustache on Muggles. Wizards view them with disgust.

"Let's move to the far end of the cavern. I can't stay much longer and I'm sure that you have many questions for me."

We followed her back beyond the sleeping area into the entry tunnel. I finally asked her to stop, as she was approaching the closest of Barb's alarm charms. We sat against the walls of the tunnel, with Scathatch facing Hermione and me at such close range that our legs brushed against hers. With our lit wands, I could sort of make out her face, but not well enough to make a good guess at her thoughts.

"Can you tell us what the stops were on your Quest?"

"I started at the original London circle. It had been damaged by a cave-in and the Goblins of my time were too disorganized or too frightened to repair it. Gringotts didn't exist back then and you had to walk down to the level of the circle. We were able to fix that circle. We encountered Brigantia at that stop. She neither helped nor hindered us.

Our next stop was what I later discovered to be a cave in Tibet. The cave wasn't far underground. In fact, there was a turning in the cave which we were not allowed to pass, lest we should see the stars and violate the rules of the Quest. The circle was a very small one and the cave was vacant when we arrived. The circle was dead, because all of the silver wires had been stolen. We had barely enough silver to make repairs. We came very ill-prepared, but the Centaur did not advise me well. There were only six calcite crystals to connect. They were each about three feet tall, with the shortest only two feet high. That meant only two courses of silver wires. We melted, we spun, and we braided our silver before attaching it to the crystals. I thought we did a fine job, but the circle would not revive for us.

There was a magnetic rock in the center of the circle, but it was less than three feet across by two high. There was an almost round depression it its center, where a crystal had been gouged out. I had brought a variety of crystals with me and chose a quartz cylinder half a foot long by an inch across to replace the stolen crystal. It seemed a pointless under-taking. I was quite certain that the circle would be looted a week after we departed. To prevent that, I ordered my assistants to weave a magical fake wall just on our side of the cave's turning point, while I chiseled out a little rock to fit my quartz into the central rock. The stolen crystal had been just a little smaller than the one I brought. My assistants had erected the barrier and helped me silver the quartz in place. I was about to speak the words that told my judge that the task was finished, when I realized that the circle remained dead. I touched my wand to the quartz and the circle sort of sputtered to life. I touched the tip of my spear to the quartz, my spear is actually a stronger wand than my wand, and I could feel the power surge through the circle.

"I proclaimed 'the task which you had assigned to me has been accomplished'. Before Banter, he was my Centaur Quest director, appeared, a white yak just popped into the cave. It grew larger until it filled the whole space in back of the circle. 'I am Shampo, it told me, and this is my circle. I thank you for restoring the source of my power. As reward, I will mate with you and you will bear my powerful son'. The yak turns into a very pale young Wizard, who starts to undress, before I can say a word.

"The word was 'NO!" and when he kept undressing, I stuck my spear into his thigh, until he bled. That's when Banter arrived and admonished me to 'please behave'. He had to admit that the task was complete. By then the Wizard was returned to yak form and was breathing a freezing fog from its nostrils, that caused me to lose sensation in my feet. Fortunately, Banter whisked us out of there before I froze. I didn't even have a chance to get an advance warning of our next location and alert my Keeper. One of Banter's jobs was to pass messages back and forth between us and apparate my Keeper to the next location, so that he could leave some supplies for me. I totally missed out on that and found myself in a cavern which Banter had yet to identify. I was lost and feeling both enraged and close to helpless. I could tell that my assistants faith in me was shaken and that I must pull myself together and focus upon what Banter wanted to tell us."

"That sounds terrible. Is that where your Quest ended?"

"Yes, it is. But allow me to finish my tale of woe. You may learn from it."

Even by wand-light her face told me that I had best pay close intention to what she was about to say. She was extremely urgent, but I also remembered Brighid's warning not to offend Scathach.

"I am eager to hear your advice," I told her. That was enough to calm her face and set her back on her narration.

"I looked at my surroundings and saw that I was in a cavern about the size of the London cavern where we repaired the first circle. The stones of this circle were smaller. Banter told me that I must pay attention to what he needed to say. We had little time. He should already have departed. He would still try to get a message to my Keeper, but it was clearly too late to deliver supplies.

"This is the Circle of the Canaanites, he told me. As you can see, it is broken. Your assignment is not to repair it, but to harvest some stones for your next stop. You must then destroy all that is left, because the local God is definitely not a good guy. His name is Ba'al Zebul and quite frankly, I think he stole this circle. You need to harvest all of the crystals on the lodestone, the quartz cylinder above the lodestone and the best two calcites. Take as much of the silver as you reasonably can and destroy everything else which remains.

"We began to do as we were instructed. I removed the central diamond and the overhead quartz cylinder. My Muse, a very sweet Ravenclaw from my Hogwarts year, removed the four tourmalines. Another of my assistants analyzed the calcite stones and selected the best of them to take with us, magically cursing the others and reducing them to shards. The rest of my assistants removed all of the silver wiring and melting and collecting as much of the silver from the trenches as they could easily extract. The circle had been barely operating when we arrived. It was now totally dead. We were very nearly finished when two bulls burst into the cavern and pinned my Muse against one wall and an assistant against another wall. One of my assistants had been gored, trampled and left near to death.

"I was wondering how I could safely evacuate all of us, when a God not much taller than I am strutted into the cavern to demand 'who dares to steal the treasures of Ba'al Zebul.'

"He was ugly and truly nasty looking. I raised my spear to fight him, but he threatened me: 'We could fight. You might even defeat me. You look like a powerful young Witch. But of course, that will take time and surely three of your assistants will die. You must agree to serve me as my slave and I will let your friends leave with their lives. Decide quickly, this one does not have very much time.'

"I felt that I had no choice but to sacrifice myself. I allowed Ba'al to place a copper band around my wrist, which he promised would strip me of my magical powers. He touched my head and I felt his dark magic pouring into me. I did not realize how awful my fate was until he told me 'now you live for a thousand years, the better to serve me. You will fix my circle to be better than it was before you came. You will bear a powerful son for me, who will rule at my side. You will serve me in every way. I will not kill you, you must live long. You are not the first to die. Neither is your injured friend. You must live at least as long as this youngest one. That is the rule of the Quest and I dare not anger the other Gods.'

"I saw that my Muse and my other assistant had been released by the bulls and were tending to my fallen assistant. My Muse looked at me with sadness, seeking my direction. 'Just go, I told her. Save the others. Idris will die if you don't depart at once'. She did as I commanded and I was alone with my new master.

"I realized the extent of my betrayal, when Ba'al next spoke. 'You don't like Sham Po, perhaps you like me better. My friend Professor Slytherin send me a fine gift.' I had been manipulated from the start. At least I had managed to save the friends who risked their lives to join my Quest."

"That's totally horrible," I told her. "I wonder if you were even on a true Quest. When Cotto and Firenze, they're the directors of my Quest, explained the rules of the Quest to me, they said that there were two living Witches who had volunteered for the Quest. They mentioned Narcissa and Jaden, who are with me today. They said nothing about you."

"I think it was a real, if totally irregular Quest. It was covered up because so many parties shared the guilt of what happened to me, and because so many others feared Slytherin or Ba'al, or both. The other explanation is that your Cotto and Firenze may not realize that I am still alive. My Quest was centuries ago and if they didn't know of my life extension, they would naturally presume me dead."

"What caused you to present yourself as a volunteer for the Quest?"

"I hadn't heard of such a thing as a Quest. Headmaster Ravenclaw said that Lord Montaigne, who along with herself was the Wizard Keeper, told her that a brave young Witch was required to perform a great service, necessary for the survival of our community. She went to the Reception Hall and summoned the Keeper of the Universe, who turned out to be Banter. He confirmed that there was a serious problem with near-dead magical circles, the collapse of the original London circle the day before, and a rise in magical instability. He said he had a vision that we were all in great danger, unless action were taken by a very brave soul. He said he didn't have a vision of a Quest and thought just that dangerous repairs of the London circle were needed. He told her that it wasn't without reason that a Quest was called for. He communed with the circle in the Sacred Cavern, but could not clarify whether or not there was to be a Quest. He did have a prophetic vision that the repairs of the London circle would succeed if they were started in exactly three days and that the Goblins were not the ones who would make the repairs. He thought that this also made sense, because the Goblin King was telling him that it was too dangerous to send his Goblins into the cavern to make repairs. The whole ceiling could collapse at any time and kill them all."

"So you and your assistants were expendable, while the Goblin magical engineers were not. By the way, I've come to associate the Lords Montaigne with the worst villainy imaginable. That hasn't changed in centuries."

"Apparently so, but I should quickly finish my tale and be gone. Ba'al made me repair the circle. I convinced him to let me travel to quarry the calcites I needed to replace the ones my assistant had shattered. I had replaced three of the five, when I saw a chance to escape and took it. I didn't realize that the copper bracelet allowed him both to track me down and to incapacitate me. I was severely punished. My existence became even more horrible than it had been. I bore him a son and had to raise and educate him, as well as repairing the circle. I was set the impossible task of reassembling two of the shattered calcites. I was allowed a little magic to accomplish that. I knew it was impossible, but Ba'al insisted that I finish the job. He had learned that threatening to harm our son was the most effective way to control me."

"I was fairly certain that I had my son's loyalty and was determined not to allow his father to harm him. So I repaired the calcites, with the limited magic allowed me to use. I told him it was useless, but he insisted. I finished them to his satisfaction, installed them, and was wiring them, when he demanded a test to see how they were doing. I told him that I wasn't quite ready to power up the circle, but he said there was only one silver connection remaining, the one between the two damaged calcites.

"I powered up the circle to twenty percent, but it was obvious that a lot of energy was leaking between those two damaged calcites. He said we could compensate with more silver. I made a quarter inch wide silver string and attached it to one of the calcites. I was experimenting with where to attach it to the second calcite, when he told me I was doing it wrong and trying to make the circle fail. I was lowering the connection point on the second calcite, and he thought I should be raising it. He said my position wouldn't work, when the power was notched up. It was too close to the lower strand. He was wrong, but he was determined to demonstrate my stupidity. He stretched the string as far as it would reach and ordered me to increase the power slightly.

"I saw my chance and I took it. I saw it in an instant and before he could react, I touched the head of my spear to the central diamond and urged the circle to full power. Even with good crystals, it would be a little dangerous to just shoot the power up from twenty percent to full, by I ramped it up as fast as it would go. He sensed something was wrong and signaled my bracelet to do its equivalent of the Cruciatus. I was instantly in agony and fell to the floor behind the lodestone, then I heard a tremendous bang and felt nothing. I thought I was dead. Then I found I could move. I used my spear to help push myself up to a sitting and then a standing position.

"Ba'al was on the ground and not moving. Pieces of the calcites had gone clear through his body. I took no chances. I put my spear right up against his head and said 'Avada Kedavra'. I shoved my spear through his throat. Little Baal, who was already thirteen, came running to find out what had happened. We lived just outside the cave, so that we could guard the circle. I said that his father had forced me to do something incredibly stupid and that the circle had blown up and injured him. I admitted to stabbing Ba'al with my spearhead. I begged Little Ba'al to quickly fetch a knife and cut off the copper bracelet, in case his father recovered and used the bracelet to destroy me. He was happy to help. He quickly returned with a sharp flint knife and sawed off my damned bracelet. Then he cut off his father's head. We disposed of the head deep in the desert and his body on the mountain. The next day I returned to Hogwarts and enrolled Little Ba'al. Now you know my story and I must depart. I'll join you at your next stop. Don't worry, Brighid will fetch me. Good bye and good luck."

Scathach must really like me. She had required no convincing at all to join my Quest. As soon as Scathach departed, Hermione spoke "she told the truth." I shared that belief. I trusted Scathach.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Fifteen – Heavy-Duty Apparating**

Hermione and I got our crew back to work, picking up where the last shift had finished. This was largely cleaning out the holes within the trenches where each of the stones was to rest. We also fully prepped the area where the large lodestone was to be placed.

We ate dinner as the second shift ate breakfast. We'd do several hours of overlap work, apparating first the lodestone and then the calcites into position. We actually had quite good food. We had packed a lot of curries, which just needed to be heated and eaten. While I ate, I compared Quest thoughts with Jaden and Narcissa. I wanted to get their thoughts on and observe their reactions to the tale which Scathach had told me.

"I agree with you that Scathach was set-up to fail," Jaden commented. "That sounds more like a remote assassination attempt than a Quest. She did well to save her entire team. I'm glad to have her with us. That is one brave Witch."

"You must remember that most Quests were not nearly as organized as this one," Narcissa reminded Jaden. "For one thing, we have a lot better communication with our Keepers. For another, the Stone is awake so we had better instructions going into the Quest and could do more preparation. Still, it is strange that there is no memory of her Quest."

"I have thought about how we are affected by Scathach's experience, and I am worried," Jaden told us. "The first three stops prior to Durmstrang were supposed to be relatively safe and certainly doable, even if they are hard, important work. Arguably Scathach's first stop met that model, although a cavern in danger of imminent collapse hardly sounds safe. Her next two stops were terrors. Are we to expect that the threat and reality of sexual assault are to be a part of our Quest? Cotto and Firenze suggested that there was great danger in becoming too attracted to a God, but poor Scathach wasn't seeking out a God – two Gods attacked her."

"I've noticed that as well, and it does make me feel quite unsafe," I admitted. "I'm going to ask Harry to question Firenze and Cotto. No, I should do that directly. I don't want to stoke Harry's fears about my safety. He's already worried enough.

"When King Gobbledegook first raised the idea of a Quest, the first reaction that Harry and I had was that it seemed all too blood-thirsty for something the Light Guardian would sponsor, and that it seemed a way for the Goblins to achieve an end they were too frightened to achieve on their own. Scathach's initial assignment certainly confirms that fear. I guess we know that we won't be going to Tibet. Scathach left that circle destroyed and its God dead."

"But she didn't leave with the crystals she was supposed to steal," Narcissa objected to my conclusion. "Perhaps there is something special about them. Maybe they were needed at a later stop on her Quest, if it even was a real Quest she was engaged upon. Voldemort canceled our Quest abruptly, but we still received far more guidance and instruction than Scathach reports. That doesn't have to do with lousy communication of a prior age. That was deliberate. Either her Quest director didn't know the actual details of a real Quest, or he was somehow persuaded to sabotage her."

"And why subject Scathach to that abuse and then make her immortal? If Slytherin wanted her gone, there must have been other ways of getting her out of Scotland, which were far simpler. Ambushing a lone Witch was never that difficult a task. She is a great warrior, but an 'Avada Kedavra' fired at one's back from behind a bush can defeat the greatest warrior. Certainly Slytherin didn't believe in fairness toward Witches or half-bloods. And why would a God seek one such as Scathach, who had no interest in Gods and was as dangerous a Witch as he might choose? It was a fatal error for Ba'al Zebul and a totally predictable one. Why would he want to make her immortal and have her around forever? There was no shortage of wenches or even Witch wenches back in his day."

"Scathach didn't tell you all," Narcissa shared her suspicions. "What happened to Little Ba'al? Was he an immortal? I think those are important questions? What else isn't that Witch telling us? Can we trust her?"

"I think so," I responded. "I'm not totally sure why I think that, but I'm quite sure that I trust her. It's more than Mafalda's endorsement of Brighid and Brighid's endorsement of Scathach. I always thought that we would meet friendly Goddesses on our first stops. Even without that preconception, I think I'd trust Scathach."

We finished eating and got to work. While we had the other shift available to help us, we apparated the lodestone into position. Thinking that either group could handle the calcites on their own, I shifted my plan and apparated several of the bigger outer stones with the help of the other shift. It was hard work. When we finished moving four of the stones, I sent my shift off to bed. I was eager to lie down and get a chance to talk to my Harry.

Since I had a set time for contacting Harry, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that he was with Ron, Dad, Mom, Neville, and Wood. I was surprised that he was also with Charlie, Percy, Callista, Prudence, Ellie, McGonagall, and Tony. Harry told me that he would relay what I said and let me know what questions the others had.

I told Harry that this was fine, but I might say some things which I didn't want him to relay. I had also hoped for a few private words with him. I did congratulate him for not including Cotto, Firenze, and King Gobbledegook, since I couldn't freely express concerns with them in the loop.

Harry assured me that's why those three weren't present. He also warned me that they would be included in a larger Stone communication after I finished this session. He did promise some one-on-one time after that session was over. I peevishly told him that if all of this took too long, I might just say good night to him and go to sleep after a strenuous day.

I told the whole Scathach story and included all of our thoughts about the betrayal of Scathach and the irregularity of her Quest.

There was a lot of concern about the second Slytherin surprise in the Chamber of Secrets. Both Harry and Dad said that I should stay out of the inner chamber and leave it to the aurors to basically dismantle the place and see what they could find, after my team was safely gone.

I replied that this sounded fine on the surface, but that Hermione and I feared that activating the new circle could well trigger whatever surprise old Salazar Slytherin had left for future Gryffindors. Harry said that I might be right about that, but that we had days to think about the best approach. I agreed not to enter the inner chamber basilisk lair at least until it was time to start the circle.

Tony was very concerned that I seemed to distrust the Stone. I told Tony that I was likely just exercising an over-abundance of caution, but that I planned some tests for the Stone. I went over my list of concerns and Tony said that my distrust seemed more than justified and that I certainly was wise to use a piece of our own monolith, rather than the Stone pieces I had brought with me, when I built in a link to the new circle. Tony said that this would be the biggest test. My Stone would be surprised and we would all have to observe how it reacted and whether it still seemed friendly.

That was the cue for Ellie to explain how I could safely remove a few small chunks from the top, right, rear corner of the monolith. She said the damage to the monolith would be minimal, which was still important. Even though it didn't promise to be much use to me on the Quest, monoliths were scarce and the Wizarding community needed this one back when the Quest was completed.

That confirmed what I wanted to do, anyway. It was good to know that my plan was technically feasible.

McGonagall confirmed that Scathach had indeed been a Hogwarts student and that her parentage had been unknown. Percy reported that a deep dive into the basement files in the Ministry suggested that the Ministry had been fairly certain that the mother had been that era's equivalent of Victoria – a wild-living nature-religion priestess who fled an aristocratic family, in this case the Blacks. The father was unknown. In any case, the Ministry had decided that there was no point in billing either the mother or the Black patriarch.

Everyone promised to learn what they could about Little Ba'al. They hadn't thought to search the records for a child of Scathach. Scathach herself had vanished back into the wild upon her return to Scotland. There were multiple unconfirmed sightings in Scotland, mostly on Skye. The Ministry was never successful in extracting any taxes from her and had soon lost interest.

That had been a crisp meeting, which was almost naturally finished when Cotto had arrived, soon to be followed by Bane, Firenze, and Kings Gobbledegook and Goblanze. Harry said that, while Cotto had apologized for a late arrival, none of the new guests seemed to have realized that we had held a meeting without them. I told Harry that in future he must be far more cautious about overlapping the meetings, or our secret would quickly be busted.

I quickly established a link with the Stone, also including Hermione and Cho on my end. I gave the censored version, in which I had zero doubt about either the Stone or any of the other new arrivals to the meeting. I did strenuously indicate my displeasure at not learning in advance about the Scathach Quest, as well as my fear and anger at learning the sexual depredations which Witches on a Quest seemed to have to endure. I wanted to see how the new arrivals would react – both to this news and to my emotional reaction to it. I laid it on rather thick, not knowing how much emotion the Stone was able to pick up.

I also practiced Occlumency and filled by mind with a floating array of extraneous thoughts. This seemed wise, since I also didn't know if the Stone had powers of Legilimency, or even if the bits of Stone inside of me provided easy access to my thoughts. I had expressed enough concern and revealed enough evidence of possibly bad intent by the Stone and my Quest sponsors to possibly prompt the Stone to try a little peeking inside my mind.

All denied any knowledge of a Scathach Quest. All said they would have informed me had they known. Cotto said that her Quest sounded most irregular and possibly a contrivance by Slytherin. The Stone argued that all of this happened while it was asleep, but that it would search its records of ancient Quests to see if it could find anything resembling the experience of Scathach. All said that Questers must avoid mating with Gods, but that they did not know of instances in which such matings took place without the consent of the Quester.

I said that perhaps the truth could be stretched to say that Scathach consented with Ba'al, but that she certainly did so under extreme physical threat to her companions. When King Goblanze said 'yes, that is most regrettable,' I screamed through the Stone, telling him that I found it quite a bit more than merely 'regrettable'.

Cotto and King Gobbledegook wished to speak with their offspring. I made the connection and excused myself, honestly claiming exhaustion.

I had a few minutes with Hermione, during which she agreed that nobody on the other end had revealed evidence of bad motives or actions, but that we must keep probing. I had a short several minutes of spousely talk with Harry, and then I fell asleep.

The week sped by, and construction of the circle neared completion. Both Witch sculpture and the ability to draw upon Stone power greatly increased our productivity. What had taken the ancients years to complete, we would finish in less than two weeks.

I moved our Stone-enabled daily conference to right after my breakfast, ostensibly so that Cho, Barb, Mafalda, and Jaden could participate. There hadn't been much relevant new information to help me weigh the loyalties of the Stone or my Quest sponsors.

The right-before-bed meetings mediated by my direct link to Harry produced only a little information. Mafalda had told me that Scathach controlled a Fortress of Shadows on Skye and had lived there for a decade with Little Ba'al. Several years after his Hogwarts graduation, Little Ba'al, who called himself Bill Scatch at Hogwarts, left Britain to take up what he viewed as his family responsibilities in Canaan.

McGonagall and the Ministry had both confirmed the graduation of a Bill Scatch. He had been a prefect and finished near the top of his class. He was a Slytherin, which kind of set my teeth on edge when this was reported to me. As far as anyone knew, he had been a relatively well-behaved Slytherin.

The Ministry had borrowed the Goblin viewers to conduct a search for magical sites in Canaan. They had found evidence of what they suspected was an operating circle inside the same mountain which housed the ancient city of Petra. So Scathach and her son had fixed the circle. I had no reason to object, considering nobody but Slytherin wanted the circle dismantled and he probably only as a ruse to get Scathach in trouble with Ba'al.

I thought we were within a couple days of finishing the circle, which meant I was rapidly approaching the need to deal with the possible surprise in the basilisk's lair. It also meant I was about to throw down the gauntlet in front of the Stone, by using the piece of the monolith. I had non-magically whacked of the prescribed corner of the monolith, yielding three decent sized stones, a couple of some smaller ones, and some sand, which Hermione insisted upon saving in a vial. Happily, the monolith continued to function and we continued to be able to control it. That is why I had delayed whacking the monolith until a couple of days ago. If my whack had locked the Stone into its current setting, we couldn't have apparated and couldn't have moved the last of the large stones.

These were the stones which Professor Celine had quarried for me. They had been apparated last, because we needed to carefully Witch sculpt them from their match-Stonehenge shape to their match-this-circle shape. I had decided that there was no need to steal actual Stonehenge bluestones.

Brighid and Wolfy spent at least part of every day with us. Our whole group was getting along really well. I found myself trusting each of my assistants. I spent part of the time of each over-lapping awake period between the shifts in assessing the cheerfulness of my assistants. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to be doing fine and the approaching completion of our first task was improving the spirits of all. I hadn't sensed the need to break out the art supplies or the Pensieve. I did feel the necessity, in response to a push from Cissy, to be 'less secretive' and allow the entire team to listen in directly to the Stone-mediated conferences. That was fine with me. The secret stuff was in the Harry-mediated conferences.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Sixteen – What's Hiding In The Basilisk's Lair?**

I was ready to energize the circle. Last night's Harry-whisper had ended in one big decision. It was the piece of monolith, rather than the piece of Stone, which had been installed atop the lodestone to permit me to remotely control the circle. I had done that not because I actually distrusted the Stone, but because my faith had been shaken, and I wanted to precipitate a reaction, which would tell me one way or the other how much faith to put in that giant black rock. To be honest, this was a deliberate rebellion, staged to force a change in my relationship with my Stone. What most upset me was the dribbling out of Quest knowledge and the insistence upon ridiculous hurdles being placed in my way as I conducted the Quest. Danger was a given, but I couldn't accept danger which might be avoided if others, supposed allies, shared the secrets they were hoarding. They were playing power games with me. Even as a small child, I couldn't stand being manipulated by adults.

Now I also was an adult, but those conducting this Quest had declared themselves to be super-adults. More to the point, they were male super-adults, not even of my own community, who believed that they could manipulate me to their own purposes for ends they had never made fully clear to me. I had initially thought that having King Gobbledegook's daughter with me meant that the King must have my interests at heart. My second thoughts said that the Goblins were notorious for not treating their females especially well. The King seemed to truly love his daughter. He also would count upon me to do the noble thing, as Scathach had, and sacrifice myself to save his daughter. I knew myself well enough to know that I would save her. That meant that to save myself, I must act now to change the relationship between myself, my Stone, and the sponsors of my Quest. I must be a fully informed full partner in the Quest I was nominally leading but fully invested in. I had kicked the hornets' nest and I had done so deliberately, hoping that out of that stinging swarm came not death, not even the forced abandonment of my Quest, but answers and more of the Truth. I felt content with my decision. Hermione, Harry, Ron, Neville, Mom and Dad agreed with me. If I was going to die for a good cause, it would be for my own good cause, which I fully understood, not as the pawn of a new King and a giant black rock.

The other big decision now had to be made. Did I restart the circle, and hope for the best, or did I enter the basilisk's lair, prepared to totally trash it until it disgorged its secret. In doing so, I would also be hoping for the best. Hermione agreed with me. We should investigate.

I didn't want to waste a whole day, so I used the breakfast Stone-link to debate the wisdom of entering the basilisk's lair. First, I polled our group: Cho strongly in favor, Narcissa opposed, Cissy in favor, Jaden unsure, Barb opposed, Aagog very very opposed, Tendra in favor, Catta in favor, Cantring in favor, and Pegasus in favor. Tony said we couldn't risk unleashing a new horror just as we were initiating a new and possibly very disruptive magical source – we must enter the lair. Dad was opposed. Harry, Ron, and Wood thought we should investigate. Everyone else danced around the pluses and minuses, but didn't want to decide. The Stone said it must be done.

Dad immediately responded 'why?'

**The Chamber of Secrets is too close to Hogwarts, the Sacred Cavern, and me to risk unleashing a great hazard when its circle is activated. I think it unwise to turn on this circle, but that must be done.**

**Then why did you set this circle as our first Quest destination?** I demanded.

**I did not have a choice.**

Well, there we were. I demanded to know **Then whose choice was it?**

**I don't know. It comes from a part of me which I do not control. I have considered everything that I know and I see great danger if you turn on the circle. **

Dad suggested **Then move my daughter's team on to their next destination and leave this circle inactive. I will send a team of aurors and magical engineers to scour the basilisk lair and the entire Chamber of Secrets. We'll tear it apart, stone by stone.**

**No. You shouldn't do that. That will end the Quest and the Quest must continue. It is important.**

We decided that we should stick to the Quest 'for now', as Dad phrased it. That meant we would enter the lair after we finished our meal, when all hands would be awake and ready to wield wands.

"I don't have any great sense of impending danger," Barb told me, "but my intuition says the problem lies between the two seals of the lair. It most likely is under the floor. I volunteer to take a viewer into the lair and survey the walls, ceiling, and floor in the dark. I'll stay linked to you through the Stone. Turn off the apparation barriers so that I can apparate to safety behind you. I think several special weapons teams facing the statue. We aren't dealing with a God or Goddess so I think you can use 'Ex-ter-mee-nate!' – at least the teams who have practiced it can use it. The others can use 'Off!'. This is auror work and I'm the only auror present. Please let me do my job."

I had to agree that she was right. Hermione and I, and Cho and Jaden knelt in attack positions on the floor in front of the Slytherin statue as Barb stood in front of it, wand in her left hand and viewer in her right.

I spoke a few words of Parseltongue and the two halves of the statue slid apart. Barb bravely strode into the lair. The entrance closed in back of her.

**Okay, I'm scanning the floor and I see nothing. Also nothing on the far wall. There's nothing on the left wall. Nothing on the right wall either. The ceiling is clean. The center of the entry wall is fairly bright. Strangely, it's the statue part of the wall. I'm not sure if the problem is on your side or mine. Please tell the statue to let me out of here.**

I did so and Barb seemed quite relieved to rejoin us. I called a quick time out for another conference via the Stone. This time everyone agreed, we should follow Scathach's example and blast away more of the statue, but in smallish pieces to give us a good look at what was inside, before we scattered it all over ourselves.

Mafalda expressed a desire to 'shoot old Slytherin right in his ugly nose'. Who could deny such a nice old Witch?

We remained in our defensive positions as Mafalda approached the Slytherin nose from the right side and fired a curse at it. I don't know which curse she chose, but she blew off his whole nose.

Hermione was the first to grasp what had happened through the haze of dust. "The head is hollow," she shouted. "I wonder what's inside it."

"My job again," Barb demanded. She walked off to find her hat, which quickly became a broom. "Guard me," she instructed, "and lob balls of light into the cavity. I'm going to fly in from the right and see what I can see."

Hermione and I made the discovery that our conjoined 'lumos' shot a very bright beam of steady light into the cavity. Barb took advantage of the brightness to survey the area behind the nose from all sides. She finally flew right up to it and peered in, using he own wand for light.

Barb promptly landed at my side. "Eggs," she told us. "At least a half dozen very large eggs. They must be two feet tall. Keep your wands trained on them. We've disturbed them already. Possibly enough to trigger their hatching."

"Yes!" Hermione seemed to have discovered a link that I had missed. "Slytherin managed to keep his basilisk alive a lot longer than it could possibly have lived. Jaden had an impossibly long pregnancy and both she and Narcissa aged slower than anything but the Philosopher's Stone should have been able to manage. Slytherin used the same trick on his basilisk eggs as Voldemort used on Jaden. There likely are tamper spells here, just like those around Jaden in the basement of the shack, although these trigger hatching, rather than death. We must act fast. I think fire is our solution."

As she spoke, I heard what sounded like an egg beginning to crack.

"All together on three – incendio on three, and keep it up as long as you can," I told Hermione, Cho, and Jaden. "Somebody grab the Gryffindor sword, just in case. One, two, three, 'Incendio!'. Keep it up!"

Two very bright, very hot flaming lightning bolts surged from our four wands to scour Slytherin's face. The stone glowed red, then it started to small of pieces. We were far enough away, but Barb scampered out of the way of the hail of hot rock. Really, it was almost molten. The pieces splatted and flattened a little as the hit the stone. As larger pieces of the face began to fall, I signaled Hermione to stop the curse on "one, two, three." We had to apparate back to safety. I looked around to see that Cho and Jaden had also safely retreated.

There was no sign of the eggs or of any living baby basilisks. I wasn't taking any chances. "We should also make a hole in the body of the statue. There might be more eggs there."

"They might already be hatching if there are eggs there," Barb warned. We should use fire. I'll team with Narcissa. With three jets of fire, we should be able to heat the body of the statue hot enough that it will come apart just like the head did."

We very quickly did as Barb suggested. As a big piece of Slytherin's belly fell away, I had a brief glance of something snake-like dancing in back of the flames, but it quickly vanished. We continued to was the statue in fire, as nearly molten pieces fell away in front of us. We were now blowing flame into the lair itself, having destroyed the back surface of the statue.

"The rear seal is open, I didn't leave it that way!" Barb shouted at us.

We continued to pour fire into the lair. It must be getting hot in there. Unfortunately, I remembered that there was water beyond the rear seal and a direct path down to the Goblin utility cavern as well as stairs up to the tunnel leading to the Elf/Goblin cave.

"Enough!" I declared. "We need to contact our Keepers."

I quickly re-established the Stone link and told Harry and anyone else who was listening that we had destroyed a lot of eggs and baby basilisks, but that some might have escaped. I told them that both seals to the lair were totally destroyed. Harry said aurors would be dispatched to the Goblin cavern. King Gobbledegook said he would increase the guard in the cave and send other guards to the utility cavern.

Neville and McGonagall groaned in unison "the basilisks could be in the drains again."

I certainly hoped not, but I had no way of knowing how easy it was for the hatchlings to make it into the lair through the rear of the statue. There certainly should have been a path, unless they were meant to just crawl out of Slytherin's nose.

"It's time to go," Hermione told me. "Let's fire up the circle."

I nodded and Hermione shot a small bolt of energy from her wand to the lodestone. The calcites began to glow. I reached for the monolith with my minding, pointing my wand at its center. I wanted to learn if I could control the circle in this manner. I could. I coaxed its power up slightly and then lowered it back down a notch, while Hermione and Cho inspected it through the viewers.

I once again reached for the Stone to tell our Keepers that the circle was energized and to request that they check for any problems with magic at Hogwarts or throughout Britain.

**I think a slow increase in power, about a tenth at a time. It will take us about an hour to check on things around Britain, so this will take a little time**, Harry told me.

We were already at almost one third power. When Harry reported back an hour later that things were basically good – magic was a little stronger in most spots, a little worse in others – I upped the circle's power by a tenth. Harry reported back a half hour later that things were still fairly good, although a few more locations were finding magic worse.

I tried another tenth more power. It took only ten minutes for Harry to respond. **That's really not so good.**

Fine, I backed all the way off to one third power. I looked at my team and raised a fist in victory as I shouted "Our work is ready to be inspected!"

Cotto appeared within seconds.

He walked around the circle, taking a good look at the silver lattice-work. He stepped back to view the circle through the Goblin viewer, which was the least bulky viewer we had. He asked me to demonstrate control of the circle.

I increased power by two tenths, then quickly lowered it back down to one third.

"You didn't control the circle through the Stone," Cotto complained.

"That wasn't a requirement," I protested.

"Maybe not, but you know that's what the Stone and I wanted you to do."

"This way seemed a little safer and gave me more direct control," I replied. "Well, does our work pass?" I pushed Cotto.

"I must think on this," he informed me.

"We'll pack in the meantime," Hermione added her voice to mine. "We met the requirements of the task as they were described to us. We might have done so a little differently than you preferred, but I know that our work is of high quality and that you have no valid reason not to approve it. Consult with whomever you feel you must consult."

Cotto was gone. We packed our things. I established my whisper-link to Harry, describing Cotto's reaction and predicting "this is where the double-ended blast skroot shoots us in the face. Hang on, I might be rejoining you a lot sooner than you expected."

We had to wait several more minutes for Cotto to return, after I broke contact with Harry. Cotto was not alone. Firenze was with him.

"You did not repair the circle in the way that you were supposed to," Firenze informed me.

"It works," I told him. "We are tired of being manipulated. We are the pawns of the planners of this Quest. We are taking all the risks, including a horde of little basilisks today. We are tired of being manipulated, while you and the Stone parse out your Quest knowledge in little pieces. It's not fair. We aren't Questing for personal gain. We are doing this for all our peoples. We have a right to know everything that you know."

"That's just not the way a Quest is supposed to work," Firenze seemed surprised that he had to repeat this fact. "This is a test of your worthiness."

"I didn't undertake this Quest to prove my worthiness or to increase my own powers. I did it because you insisted it is necessary for each of our communities to prosper and to live in peace. I'm willing to take risks for that to happen, but I'm not willing to risk myself and my team in order to prove our worthiness to you. Now, either approve our work or don't approve it. If you don't approve it, we will destroy this circle and go home. The Stone is incredibly powerful. It has bits of itself, like a horcrux, inside of me. I'm not going to give it control of a circle inside Hogwarts until I fully trust it. None of us is happy about how Scathach was treated on her Quest or about how little we understand our own Quest. We seem to be serving the unknown purposes of others, and I don't think the other is the Light Guardian."

Poor Tendra looked positively frightened at the level of rebellion I was displaying. I think she feared one of us would be struck down in an instant. Perhaps she just expected severe parental displeasure and an early marriage.

Firenze looked puzzled but agreed. "Your work meets the minimal standard and I must approve it. I'm sorry that it doesn't meet the deeper standard. We must talk."

"Yes, we must," I agreed. "I'm quite sure you have to consult others, before you tell us what is really going on with this Quest. A good first step would be to tell us about the next stop on the Quest."

As Firenze began to explain the next phase of the Quest, he looked flustered for the first time since I had known him. Clearly Hermione and I had surprised him


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Seventeen – They Want To Send Me Back To Azkaban**

"Your next destination is Azkaban. The White Stone will be far more effective if it has its own small circle. Your task is to build and smoothly start a circle of at least five calcites and six basalts around the White Stone and link it to a piece of the Black Stone."

Now it was Hermione, who felt more rebellious than I did. "Why? We've been there before. We've fought there before. It is not a good place. In fact, it might best be described as a nasty death trap. The whole place is permeated by the feel of Dementors, the cavern of the White Stone is very small and there is the danger of the White Stone running amok at any time."

"Plus we have a deal with the Dementors to keep the White Stone at its current power output, so that they can feed off it, rather than being killed by it," I reminded Firenze. "Besides, the Black Stone already can significantly control the White Stone. We don't understand the White Stone well. Increasing its strength might pose a serious threat. There are a lot of mysteries surrounding the White Stone. There also seem to be way more than enough active circles currently in Britain. We can't even increase the power of the last circle beyond a third, without causing problems. Azkaban is just too close to the other circles."

"Has your revolt reached the stage of refusing a Quest assignment?" Firenze was incredulous.

"It has certainly reached the point of not just meekly accepting what is handed to us. We agreed to this Quest under the assumption, really under your guarantee, that it was necessary to fix circles in order to restore proper levels of magic and remove the chaos in the magical forces, so that black magic will vanish. This makes the second assignment which is totally inconsistent with that purpose for the Quest. We don't need a circle at Azkaban any more than we needed a circle in the Chamber of Secrets. Somebody or some thing wants these circles, and the reason isn't to perfect magic in Britain. The White Stone was the center of bad magic. The Dementors are about as bad as magical creatures get, and the White Stone was their hive before we unleashed it. With a circle that somebody else can control, it may well become their hive again and they may multiply like crazy. It seems a very big risk. What benefit do you see in creating this circle?"

Firenze really had no answer beyond "things beyond our understanding. It is a part of the Quest and one must take one's Quest as it comes. You don't have the option to skip challenges."

"That's what these assignments are – they're challenges," Hermione pounced. "We don't want challenges. We're not in this to prove ourselves or to win some great personal prize, and frankly nobody has described a great personal prize. We signed up to do vitally necessary jobs. Jobs that males supposedly cannot do. Neither of these assignments fit that category. Neither fits the ridiculous restrictions that we can't apparate to another spot or above ground to get something we need, or simply to increase our personal comfort. This would all be somewhat reasonable if the purpose of the Quest was to test how much we can endure and get a little useful work out of us in the bargain, but we have no interest in being tested in that manner. We can poll our whole team and our Keepers. I can tell you for certain that I have no interest in that."

"Are you quitting your Quest?" Cotto stepped into the discussion.

"Give us a valid reason not to quit," Cho spoke up. "I didn't abandon my husband at Durmstrang to face arbitrary challenges or to be tested by judges not of my choosing. I thought something important needed to be done, and that I was needed to do it. I'm learning that this may not be the case."

"There is another issue that has really been bothering me," Barb told Cotto. "We placed supplies in the Chamber of Secrets twelve hours before our Quest began. Those supplies were stolen. The local Goddesses say that they didn't take them. Somebody took them. This Chamber is within the Hogwarts apparation barriers. One entrance is through Hogwarts, while the other entrance was controlled by the two of you and the Goblins. So, are you going to tell us who stole our supplies and why they did that?"

Firenze was exasperated. "I don't know who stole your supplies. Is it really all that important? Your Keepers can position replacement supplies at the next stop."

"You seem very upset," Brighid told Firenze. "From what I've seen thus far, this does seem a most unusual Quest. My friend Scathach also had a most unusual Quest. It's clear to me that the sole purpose of that particular Quest was to turn poor Scathach into a slave as penalty for banishing the evil Slytherin. Now we just found ourselves surprised by Slytherin's final trap. We were urged to do exactly that which was need to spring Slytherin's trap. I may just be a very minor Goddess, but I feel that I am being abused."

"This is most unusual, but perhaps we do need to have a full discussion," Cotto suggested. "The Black Stone must be a part of that discussion. It has more control over lthe Quest that Firenze or I do."

"How can that be?" I asked Cotto. "There have been multiple Quests, including, I am led to believe, at least one successful Quest, while the Stone slept and played no part."

"I don't understand that," Cotto admitted. "Neither Firenze nor I were part of any prior Quest. We also had no part in the Quest which Narcissa and Jaden abandoned. That was a long time ago. Perhaps Bane has knowledge of that Quest. He has been Leader of the Herd longer than I have been Keeper of the Universe."

"Or than I have been Elf King," Cotto added.

"Let's include everyone in a conference through the Black Rock," I suggested. "That includes our Keepers, Dad, Tony, the Goblin King, Unstaad, Bane, and Agag."

"Okay, if you sit down and be patient, I'll contact the Stone," Firenze pleaded.

While Firenze contacted the Stone, I quickly brought Harry up to date and then asked my whole team, "well, what do you think? Are you willing to consider continuing the Quest or do you want to abandon it?"

"You know I don't want to be here," Narcissa admitted. "You also know that my reputation doesn't permit me to bow out unless you do."

"I'm willing to continue," Mafalda told me, "if you decide this is still worthwhile. I am beginning to question the real motive behind sending us on this Quest."

I didn't get any further in my poll of the team. Firenze rejoined us, telling me "the Stone is quite desperate to have a discussion. It is contacting the other participants whom you requested."

**I understand that many of you doubt my motives, **the Stone spoke into our heads. **I am your friend and mean you no harm. I don't know the answers to many of your questions. I did sleep through recent Quests. The Light Guardian can wake me when I am needed and can talk to parts of my sleeping self. I don't know if I would remember such a conversation if it happened, but I don't remember it. I know nothing of the Scathach Quest. I did not participate in the Voldemort Quest. I only follow the rules in facilitating your Quest. I don't know all of your Quest destinations. I don't know any other than Azkaban. I didn't know Azkaban until the day you began this Quest. **

**I expect that after you leave this spot for Azkaban that I will find that I suddenly know the next destination after Azkaban. As I honestly told you before, there are parts of myself that I am unable to see into. I am promised that if your Quest succeeds, and if I didn't cheat to help you, that those parts of myself will be open to me. I don't know why it is important that you use pieces of me, rather than pieces of your monolith, in repairing and building the circles you visit. I know that doing so will make me stronger, but I did not make the decision that you must use pieces of me, although I was the one who told Firenze of this rule. I don't know how I learned that this was actually a requirement. I suddenly realized that I did know, and that it was a Quest requirement. I hope that you can trust me. I have saved you from danger in the past. Isn't that reason to trust me?**

Yes, I suppose that was reason to trust my Stone. It had helped us recapture Azkaban from the Dementors and restore the White Stone to normal functioning. It had helped us back when we sabotaged the transporter. It had fixed me when Sean nearly killed me with the whack to the back of my head. If it wanted me dead, I'd be dead. It didn't need to murder me. It just had to step aside and allow me to die.

I told the Stone that of course I trusted it. What I didn't trust was wherever it was getting its information and Quest rules from. If this information just suddenly appeared, then someone was putting it there. Which meant that someone was controlling my Stone, which meant someone was controlling me. I didn't think that someone was the Light Guardian. The Light Guardian also could have just stayed away and allowed me to die in the Sacred Cavern at the hands of Ruppasta's swordsman. I had absolute faith in the Light Guardian.

This was all too complicated and there was no evidence to follow to the solution of these mysteries. I needed to start simpler. **Who stole our supplies**? I demanded of the entire group. **Somebody who's listening to me now must be the one who did it.**

There was silence. Then more silence. Then King Gobbledegook confessed. **You had too many supplies. It was too easy, not like legend says the old Quests were, with danger and discomfort and the need for real courage and more persistence than a normal Goblin is capable of. I couldn't have your success questioned by traditional Goblins wanting to tear down Tendra's achievement, to say that your Quest was a soft Quest. It had to be a clearly strenuous Quest, one that only the exceptional could win. That way my Tendra would be accepted as a hero and she could change the Goblin world.**

I didn't need to have the King standing in front of me with all of my truth teller skills turned on to be very sure that he now was telling me the truth. It made sense. It was the sword to the back for a second time, in service to how King Gobbledegook imagined that history and legend required me to act. In both cases, how he wanted me to act fit his concept of what was good for Goblins. It wasn't exactly bad for him personally, either. I had found at least one of my manipulators.

Tendra was indignant. She said that she would abandon the Quest. It was unfair to put all of her fellow Questers at greater risk and increased discomfort in order to satisfy her special Goblin need. To translate the Goblinspeak as best I can: she told her father that she felt diminished by his lack of faith in her ability to prove her worthiness without his cheating to make her look better.

When Firenze again stated that the stolen supplies were unimportant and could be replaced by our Keepers, I pointedly told him that our chocolate couldn't be replaced. Half of our chocolate was gone. I also didn't want my husband to have to travel into Azkaban to resupply us with water. Over half of our water was gone. I agreed to drop the subject of supplies, but I told Firenze that this raised a much larger issue.

Gobbledegook was the original source of the information that there needed to be a Quest. He was the one who spoke of draconian rules. I reminded Firenze that at that time he himself knew nothing of a Quest that I needed to lead and also doubted the strict rules. I wanted to know how much of this whole Quest business was simply made up by King Gobbledegook. Where did these rules come from, if not the King? Obviously the Stone didn't know of them, until they suddenly appeared from some unknown source.

If there were circles which must be fixed for the good of all, then I was more than willing to do my part. If there was danger involved, I would deal with that. There was no evidence or reason that I had seen which said the repairs had to be made by females only, following this bizarre set of rules. It just made no sense. And none of the beings who were telling me that this is how it must be seemed to have any understanding at all of why it must be this way.

What I wanted to know is why it made any sense, either to us or to any remaining bad guys, to build a circle at Azkaban. I waited. Nobody had a plausible explanation of how it could possibly benefit us. Harry feared that a baddy was once again trying to take control of the Dementors to use as a weapon against us.

It was at this point that Dad demanded that we talk among ourselves as a smaller group. When Cotto objected, Dad told him that he was making this decision as the Minister of Magic.

I apologized to the Stone for excluding it, but broke contact and established the Harry link. Cotto and Firenze said that they would leave us for an hour and confer with the Stone and with their own communities.

I had to reassure Tendra that I really did want her to stay, despite her father's meddling. She had been a good and loyal Quest participant. I favored the changes she wanted to make in her community. I told the others that Hermione and I needed to talk to Harry, Ron, and my Dad on our own. I knew that Tony would be there too, but didn't mention this fact.

Harry relayed Dad's question: 'what's the worst possibility regarding Azkaban?' I said that I didn't know, but that the White Stone might well be used as a weapon against us. Or the circle might re-chain the White Stone and allow the Dementors to invade Britain. Hermione one-upped me.

"I think this goes back to how we found the White Stone chained. How did that happen? The chain restraints allowed the Dementors to escape destruction. They couldn't have chained the White Stone themselves. They had help. Help that knew the Light Guardian's plan. Help that was able to find a lot of silver, to stand up to the strength of the White Stone, and to pull this off a very long time ago, before Wizards were even magical. The worst possibility is that we are being contested by the ages-old rival of the Light Guardian. A bad God of equal power to the Light Guardian. A power that wants dark magic to live on and become stronger."

Tony and Dad agreed that this certainly was a very bad worst case. I accepted that it was really bad, I just couldn't guess what we could do about it. It was just a repeated reminder that this Quest could be very, very dangerous.

I was surprised when Dad asked if I was willing to be bait for one more Quest stop. I told him that I was willing, but would have to ask the rest of my team.

I wasn't sure that Dad really got it. It seemed he intended to trap a rogue Wizard or a rogue Goblin or Dementor. Something a lot less frightening than a rogue God. I was quite sure I knew what Dad was thinking. Against all reason, he thought that Slytherin still lived. That's the thought that popped into my head and stuck with a sense of certainty. I was learning what my father feared. Voldemort was gone, Bruce was gone, Ruppasta was gone, Thicknesse and Barty were gone, Umbridge was gone. Dad was on the trail of another Big. I couldn't blame him. This was more rational and less frightening than what we might actually be facing.

As I explained the situation to my team, I realized that one member of my team actually had controlled the Dementors for evil ends. I surreptitiously kept a close watch on Narcissa, as Hermione and I explained our choices.

Aagog said she was sorry but she could not continue. I realized that all of the hatching basilisks had unnerved her. Facing the serpent God in Egypt was now beyond her ability to cope. I couldn't blame her. She had held up very well. I thanked her for her participation and told her that she just needed to apparate back to our starting point and she was released from the Quest. She promised to do what she could to help the Quest from the surface, acting as an extra keeper and convincing her community to continue their support of the Quest and of peace among all the magical communities. Then she reminded me… the spiders couldn't apparate. Someone would have to go with her. I hoped that I could prevail upon Cotto to do that.

Narcissa quickly volunteered to apparate Aagog. I reminded her that this would disqualify her from the Quest. She told me that she was very aware of that fact. She feared that the Dementors would seek revenge upon her if she went to Azkaban. She said that she realized that I must be worried that she was leaving with a lot of secrets which I would prefer that she not have. She declared yet again that she was good, an ally, and not at all the person she was when the horcrux and the ghost influenced her mind. I should realize that I could trust her. Hadn't she behaved well on this Quest? Really, she wondered, did I have any choice other to let her go and simply trust her? She through that out almost as a challenge or threat. I realized that yes, I did have another choice.

I messaged Harry that perhaps she ought to be arrested and kept in custody until the Quest, or at least the Azkaban phase of the Quest, was finished. She had too much of a link with Azkaban for me to be comfortable with her running around loose while we were there. I also messaged the Stone to give no further information to Narcissa and not to allow her to communicate through itself to anyone but me, and then only in an emergency.

I told Narcissa to wait until I knew whether anyone else required transport back to the cave. Jaden said that she would stick it out. Barb and Mafalda were fearless. I'm not sure what I'd call Cissy, but she said she would continue on the Quest. Cho said she thought she would stay, but wanted to hear more from Cotto, Firenze, and the Stone. She also wanted to do what Viktor wanted her to do. Nobody else backed out. I thanked Narcissa for her help and bade her farewell.

Cotto and Firenze hadn't returned, so Hermione and I took the time to ask Harry to find out if Ellie could come up with a way that we could install both a piece of the Black Stone and a piece of the monolith in our new circle in a way that the piece of the Stone would appear to be in complete control, but that we could kill the circle through the piece of the monolith. I wasn't at all convinced that I dared to ask that question of my Stone. I trusted it, but I didn't trust whoever was influencing it. If I told the Stone of my plan, that whomever might well be able to extract that information from the Stone.

When Cotto and Firenze returned, they were pleased to learn that we were willing to discuss practical issues concerning our mission in Azkaban. First, they wished to clear the air.

"We are pleased that you are willing to at least considering traveling on to Azkaban," Firenze told us. "We know that Azkaban is a place of particular terror for Witches and Wizards and that some of you have very recently fought a battle there. I further realize that this is a suspiciously strange assignment, one that is bound to seem like a trap designed to murder you. I assure you that Cotto, the Stone and I have no such intention. I must tell you that the Stone fears it may be under the influence of a being that is not allied with good or with the Light Guardian. The Stone has slept for a very long time and realizes that it doesn't know everything which may have happened to it during that time. I was first to tell the Stone the full details of your discovery of it. The Stone considers your chance discovery of it to be suspiciously fortuitous. The Stone wants me to tell you that it views your doubts as very natural and is not offended. It has much thinking to do.

"With pardons to Tendra, I must say that we also talked much of her father. We each asked ourselves to what extent our thinking on the rules for this Quest and even the need for this Quest had been guided by King Gobbledegook. It is fair to say that he has been a great, but not a determining influence. Still, his influence is very disturbing, because he is clearly pursuing his own goals and equally clearly has improperly interfered with the progress of the Quest. We certainly will return your stolen supplies. We will continue to discuss whether the Quest rules which we have imposed upon you are proper and correct. You have very legitimate doubts.

"Were there other concerns or misconceptions which I should address?"

"You forced Narcissa upon me. Why did you do that? I am not making this Quest with the assistants whom I would have freely chosen."

"We thought you needed Narcissa's Quest knowledge. We thought it was necessary to close the circle on the last aborted Quest. I sensed that it would be a very bad thing for you to choose Adrienne Celine, which you appeared determined to do. That was an attempt to cheat in your favor. I think you also know that we pushed Narcissa as a means of safely ridding her of the Voldemort horcrux. I know that you never trusted Narcissa, and I admit that I should have been open about my motives and not forced her upon you. I added Jaden as compensation."

"Well, Narcissa is gone, which means that the Witch who controlled the Dementors, the Witch who sent the Dementors to kill me - she now knows that we're about to travel to Azkaban and spend weeks around her old Dementor pals. She claims to have bailed out because the Dementors will get their revenge upon her, but she may intend to destroy us there. I asked Harry to detain her until we leave Azkaban. I'm not sure he will be able to do that. If Madam Bones were still at the Ministry, he would be unable to do it. McGonagall would scream bloody murder. She will now if she finds out. It was McGonagall who encouraged you to include Narcissa on my Quest, wasn't it?"

"Yes, I confess that it was. She made a strong case. I'm sorry. I really hope Narcissa isn't able to harm your Quest. It was very wrong of me to force her on you. I'll think on that matter, as well. You can be assured that we will not be taking advice from either the Goblin King or Professor McGonagall in future. They have had far too much control over your Quest. It is unfortunate.

"You want to know where the rules come from. As I told you when we discussed Harry's entry into the Sacred Cavern to confront Ruppasta: there are no hard and fast written rules. Cotto and I and the Stone are deciding as best we can based upon what history and legend say has worked in the past. The closest thing I have to a written rule is an old ballad, recorded a millennium ago. If Hermione searches her Light Guardian memories, she will likely find it. You won't be pleased to learn that this is a Goblin ballad, although there are less-specific writings and oral legends of my people and the Elves. The ballad actually does rhyme in old Goblinspeak.

"_They shall fight for our future in the dark recesses of this world, where power hides_

_They shall joust with the mighty Gods and Goddesses, for what is our right as magical peoples_

_They shall suffer and strive on our behalf, doing what we are unable to do for ourselves_

_They will be young and very old, friend and foe alike, gifted with wisdom or gifted with strength and courage_

_Some will enter this fight knowing that they will not return to live upon the face of our world_

_They will understand what needs to be done and will do it without instruction or lead_

_They will perfect the magic and will share it with all who choose to live in peace with their fellow thinking creatures_

_They will support all the Gods and Goddesses who swear allegiance to our most basic Covenant_

_They will vanquish those Gods and Goddesses who cannot bring themselves to dwell in peace with us_

_Witches will boldly stride where even the bravest Wizard or Goblin is too fearful to go_

_Their male companions will support them as best they can, in those places where they are allowed to go_

_The other magical peoples will assist them on their Quest, as the Mother of the Future and her Muse lead the Quest_

_They venture into the dark voids beneath the earth, where even the fiercest warrior dare not go_

_Fighting with magic and without, but relying upon their wit and skills of persuasion_

_These intrepid Questers will fight for us all, seeking neither glory nor personal gain_

_If they succeed, they will return to make this world a far better place and banish the forces of dark_

_Purest magic shall prevail everywhere and all creatures who think may live in peaceful harmony_

_These Questers have our deepest blessing as they suffer under the most rigid rules to do what must be done_

_We would relieve their suffering, but we dare not, for this is the province of the greatest Gods and Goddesses_

_They must determine if all who Quest are sufficiently noble for the cause and not selfish opportunists_

_The inadequate and the mean of spirit shall surely perish upon this path and you shall know them by their failure_

_The true and pure of spirit shall prevail and will gladly be given a reward they did not seek_

_But first, they must prove themselves worthy, obedient, and willing to sacrifice all they hold dear for the benefit of others_

_Such is the spirit of a true Mother and Muse and thus is the price for entry to the new golden age"_

"That is quite a ballad," Hermione admitted, "but I hardly see how it justifies all of the rules you have set for us. Nor does it say that we will be given detailed assignments whose importance we don't understand. It says that we will know what must be done and will require no lead, as in we will travel on our own, on the surface of this world if necessary."

"You may be correct," Firenze admitted. "Cotto and I felt it safest to take the most restrictive interpretation of this ballad, as well as what our own oral traditions require."

"I don't mean to be rude," Cho told Firenze, "but I'd feel far better about this Quest if the rules under which we labor and the purpose for which we labor were outlined in the traditions of our own community. For a Quest that has never before included Elves, or Centaurs, or Goblins, it just seems very strange to me that we must operate under the rules of Elf, Centaur, and Goblin tradition. What do your peoples have to do with Quests, anyway?"

"I am not offended. It is a natural question, particularly given what has happened and what you have learned from Scathach. It is reasonable to see this as us imposing upon you for our own reasons. I assure you this is not the case. Just as the duties under the Covenant are split, so have our peoples always played a role in supervising Quest. There have actually been all-Elf and all-Goblin Quests in the past, if legend is correct. This is simply the first Quest in which all able magical peoples have participated. I know that doesn't adequately explain why our interpretation of rules must be imposed upon you.

"If you are willing to move ahead, I will explain the rules and tasks related to Azkaban."

"We are willing to listen," I told Firenze.

"I explained that you must build a circle around the White Stone. This means you will not need a lodestone or the precious crystals which you normally would insert into the lodestone. You will need calcite stones, which will have to come from elsewhere. You will need basalt stones, but the Cavern of the White Stone is made of basalt, which you will harvest. You must include a piece of the Black Stone within the inner calcite ring. I know that there is no source for this requirement other than the Black Stone, itself, but it is our best surmise that this is required.

"You won't like this next part, either. The inner calcite ring does not require large crystals, but it does require specific ones. You must take the crystals from the circle, which Scathach visited. I know that two of those crystals were destroyed, but you only require three of the crystals.

"The Black Stone will transport you. First to Azkaban, then to the Circle of Ba'al Zebul, and then back to Azkaban. You leave in exactly one day and your Keepers may place whatever supplies they can carry in either of these locations. Your stolen supplies will be in the Cavern of the White Stone when you arrive."

"I have a question," Hermione interrupted. We left a lot of silver in that Cavern after we unchained the White Stone. It may not still be there. May our Keepers bring silver, if it is needed, while we are at Petra?"

"No, they may not. Any supplies they bring must be delivered within the next twenty-three hours. I will rejoin you in twenty hours. Spend the time productively."

Firenze was gone. I was becoming a tad annoyed by him. I contacted Harry and told him of our instructions and what he and the other Keepers could do to help us. Harry promised to bring silver. I told him that I also wanted a half dozen small to medium calcites and a half dozen large basalts. Harry said that was a seriously difficult demand, but he would rally the necessary helpers to get it done. He also promised to have a small army at Petra. If we ran into trouble, we had just to leave the cave of Ba'al Zebul and help would be there.

I realized that what I most needed to know was the present whereabouts, strength, and attitude of Little Ba'al. For that I needed Scathach. Brighid said that Scathach would not return to our present location, but would be waiting for us at Azkaban. I argued in vain to change her mind. I then asked her if she could go to Petra and get Little Ba'al's permission for our Keepers to drop some calcite crystals and supplies in his cave. She sad that she could do this. Little Ba'al liked her. She departed, promising to meet us at Azkaban.

We did spend our twenty hours productively. We worked our a plan with Ellie that would allow us to use a piece of the monolith to sabotage the circle we built in the Cavern of the White Stone.

Cotto returned at the appointed time, without Firenze. He was friendly and the pocket watch was not on display. Basically, he wished us well and said it was best for all if we all take a somewhat relaxed approach to the Quest and try to make the best of things. He promised that he and Firenze were seriously considering if any rules should be relaxed or eliminated. They thanked us for continuing. He told us that the Goblins were providing the silver for this stop. King Gobbledegook was personally transporting it.

I should have been grateful for this attempt at a make-good effort by the King. Instead I worried what sabotage he might commit during this particular advanced trip to a Quest destination. For Tendra's sake, I tried my best to sound grateful.

We linked hands with Cotto and in an instant found ourselves standing in a familiarly uncomfortable spot.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Eighteen – At Least I Got All The Silver**

'

I found what I expected to find in the Cavern of the White Stone, also known as the former hive of the Dementors. Just as promised, Scathach had rejoined us. She and Brighid had been studying the White Stone, but turned and came right over to greet me.

"We've been here for an hour,"Scathach told me. "We've seen no Dementors and no other Gods or Goddesses. The White Stone is very interesting. It's actually hot. I never knew such a thing existed."

"I will introduce you to its partner, the Black Stone. I'd do it immediately, except my mobility is foolishly limited by the Quest rules. Is your son still at Petra and is he willing to help us?"

"He allowed your calcites to be delivered. He said that he is willing to consider your plan to exchange calcites. He wants his circle to be stronger. He has no particular attachment to those particular crystals. If you can make his circle work better, and help him to defend it while it is being re-worked, then he is inclined to look favorably upon your proposal. I will be glad to move to my son's cave. I like the White Stone, but its cave is very uncomfortable to me."

I had to agree. I did not feel as comfortable here as I had in the Chamber of Secrets, even though my memories of that place were not good memories and I had won a major battle here. I had a peace treaty with the Dementors, but I didn't like them, and I felt their presence even at this distance.

As we stowed the supplies we had carried with us from the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione, Cho, and I made a careful scan of this cave. The silver straps, which my spirit warriors had removed from the White Stone during our last visit, were right where we had left them.

King Gobbledegook had left us several dozen bars of pure silver. We would not be hurting for silver, which was good, because I thought it might be wise to transport some to Little Ba'al's circle at Petra.

I saw that King Gobbledegook had also returned the chocolate and the water he had stolen from us. He had gone beyond the minimum requirements of our mutual deal with Firenze and also returned our Wizard tent, our Muggle air mattresses and sleeping bags, a large quantity of oil paint and scrap bronze for Witch Painting and Witch sculpture, and good-sized sacks of brown rice, cashews, and almonds, as well as my entire supply of cinnamon. I think he returned everything which he had stolen from us. Seeing it all here on a big pile gave a stronger visceral impression of all the amenities he had chosen to deny us. It hadn't seemed like quite so much was taken, when I first discovered the robbery. I was especially struck by his determination to deny his daughter cinnamon. He had been thwarted on this, because some of the vegetarian curries I had carried for her contained quite a lot of cinnamon.

I showed Tendra the cinnamon. She snorted.

"My father seems afraid that I will get too grand a sense of my status if I am allowed to consume cinnamon on the Quest. He does love me, and he is a good person. He'll be a good King. He wants to make good changes, but then he gets frightened. My mother has to push him to move forward against his fears. He believes too much in the old legends, but I think that's also why he wants me to drag our people forward. Goblin females were more active and more visible in the time of legends. There were female Goblin warriors and a Quest of all female Goblins. I'm glad that you still want me to be a part of the Quest. I am ready to fight. It would be a source of great shame for me to give up and slink home while the rest of you fight on. I don't mind being underground. This cavern is rather nice. I can tell by how the walls were worked that Goblins worked on this cave a very long time ago. This is much older than the Sacred Cavern – even older than the Chamber of Secrets."

She said that last part with such great confidence that I had to believe her, although I had no idea what it meant. Goblins were a lot older to magic than Witches and Wizards were. Most caverns were 'natural' caverns, which had been significantly expanded in size before the circles were added. They had all been made by Elves or Goblins. Still, I asked her how she could be so certain that this was the work of ancient Goblins.

She pointed at the nearest wall of the cave, making swooping motions with her hands and arms to indicate the shallow, curved gouges that made up the surface of the cave. It was a series of interlocking rounded depressions, close to a foot and a half across, if the whole gouge were visible, rather than being interrupted by adjacent gouges. The stone wasn't smooth – a little rougher than unpolished rough, as if those who had gouged the rock wall using their ancient magic had missed little bits of rock and gotten the elevations not quite even in spots.

Tendra said that her mother had taught her about this style of magical construction and that it was very old – she stopped to convert – perhaps fifteen thousand of our years old. She said that the White Stone had also been fashioned by Goblins and was almost as old. She definitely thought that a very primitive circle would once have lived here.

Tendra suggested that some of us should stay behind and harvest the basalt stones while the rest of us traveled on to Petra. She volunteered to stay, saying that she was quite content here and that both caves were too small for our entire team to share comfortably for many days.

I wasn't sure. I didn't want to expose half of our party to a Dementor attack. Pegasus said that she could serve as Dementor repellent. Hermione said that she could wait behind. She knew how to quickly ramp up the power of the White Stone if any Dementors appeared. I didn't like being separated from Hermione, but her proposal made sense.

I'm glad that we had all of our supplies for Azkaban. It was hot in the cavern, now that the White Stone was operating at higher power. The place still felt like Dementors. You'd stand in a certain spot and suddenly feel the chill fear of Dementor. I think they congregated on the level right above us.

I contacted the head Dementor to let it know that we would be doing some magical engineering work in the old hive. I suggested that the Dementors leave the level directly above the hive, since we would certainly have to increase the White Stone's power at various points during our work. I reminded the leader that we had a truce and that I expected to see no Dementors, either in the hive or in the level directly above it. I was thanked for the warning and promised that the Dementors would not interfere with our visit.

I could sense the Dementors moving within and departing the level above us, just by the changes in my background level of dread and by brief passing brain chills. It wasn't a pleasant sensation, but it was reassuring that they were complying with my demand that they relocate.

Everything seemed settled at this location. I had decided that I would travel to Petra with Cho, Jaden, Mafalda, Catta, Brighid, and Scathach. Cho had organized the segregation of the supplies we would need. All that remained was to summon Cotto to transport us there. Then I thought that I had better quickly contact Harry first. I didn't think that I would be able to whisper-talk from Petra even if I took a phoenix, which I planned to do.

Harry was happy but surprised to hear from me. I told him of the change of plan. He was reluctant. He thought splitting our force increased danger. I told him that it reduced the time for this task, which increased the likelihood that we could do what was needed before any bad guys found out. I asked if Harry had been able to complete all the tasks I had set for him.

{[Proud] Yes, and it wasn't easy. All the stones you requested were delivered to Little Ba'al's cave. He was expecting them and treated us well. Petra is an amazing place. He gave me a tour. He seems a friendly God. He told me he wasn't a God, just an almost-God, a mixed-blood who had access to something not dissimilar to the Philosopher's Stone. We managed to secretly detain Narcissa. Nobody knows about it yet, but I expect McGonagall to learn about it the next time we have a Stone-link. You might want to postpone the next one for a few days. There are now a dozen aurors camped outside the cave. There's no problem, they are there with Little Ba'al's permission. He likes the added protection. He was convinced by his mother that another plot is underway and that he is one of the intended victims.}

{{His mother is entirely correct. There are only two possible reasons for our Quest assignment to require that we use calcites from Little Ba'al's circle. The first is to destroy his circle, which harms him. The second is to cause a big fight between him and our group, which likely hurts both of us. That was as malevolent a Quest requirement as the instruction for Scathach to destroy father Ba'al's circle. The intent is so similar that I suspect the same actor is involved.}}

{Your father had much the same thought. He thinks it's Slytherin. Could he still be alive?}

{{I'm not betting on Slytherin. Gotta' go. Don't be surprised if I can't reach you from Petra. I'll take a phoenix, but Petra is a long way away. I don't want to communicate through the Stone. We won't exactly violate our instructions, but I don't think I am expected to leave Little Ba'al's circle stronger than I found it and I'm certainly not expected to add a piece of our monolith along with the piece of the Stone to the new circle around the White Stone. Nor am I supposed to leave the White Stone partially leashed, as I intend to do.}}

I shouted "We are ready to be transported." I sort of spoke this to the Stone as well, as I had when we were finished in the Chamber of Secrets. I didn't know if the Stone alerted Cotto or if he had been lingering around us with his invisibility spell. I know that I had chosen not to speak out loud about any of our secret plans. I knew that Cotto was a very effective spy.

However he managed it, I only had to wait a minute for Cotto to arrive. He was surprised that I only wanted him to transport half of us to Little Ba'al.

"It's much more efficient this way, and this cave is cramped."

Cotto started to say that he wasn't sure that this was entirely in accord with the rules, but took one look at my determined expression and quickly transported us.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Nineteen - Petra – Kingdom of Little Ba'al**

We were standing in Ba'als cave. The circle was working. The cave was as I imagined it from Scathach's tale. I wanted to get rid of Cotto before he noticed that Harry had supplied calcites and basalts for me to work with.

"Thanks for the transport," I told Cotto. "I really do have a large enough crew to finish this job fairly quickly. I'll call you when we're finished."

"You should be able to just grab the calcites now and we can return immediately," Cotto insisted. "It doesn't look as though this God wants to contest your mission. It looks like he's having a reunion with old pals."

"He is. Scathach is his mother. He's not contesting us, because we're not going to trash his circle and leave him without a source of power. Little Ba'al is a good and reasonable almost-God."

"That was not the instruction which I gave you."

"You told me to bring back three calcites from this circle and I will do that. The task will be completed in accordance with all of your very silly instructions. You did not say I had to leave a destroyed circle in my wake and I will not do that. We'll see you within the week."

"I think you are being very foolish and rebellious to continue to show such disdain for the rules of your Quest."

"I am doing what is right. I will not harm Little Ba'al. It's clear that somebody wanted me to harm him, but I won't do it. You would be better off spending your time figuring out whom that somebody is, rather than in this useless attempt to persuade me to act badly. You know that there is evil trickery afoot, just as well as I do. You and Cotto are welcome to speak between yourselves, but if you are any sort of friend at all, then you will say nothing of this to the Stone. The Stone is being manipulated for evil intent. You can tell the Stone that Little Ba'al seems difficult and that it may take us quite some time to persuade him to cooperate."

Cotto sighed, but he left. I thought that he would do as I asked.

I introduced myself to Little Ba'al. He welcomed me saying, "I see that you are planning on improving the circle, rather than just replacing the calcites you need. That's good. My mother and I managed to fix the circle, but one of the calcites is cracked, so I can't go above half power."

"We'll fix that. I can tell that Harry brought me really good calcites. I suspect trickery, so we need to move very fast. We'll swap out the cracked calcite first, then harvest the one next to it, which we need to take back with us. We'll examine the calcites on both sides and take away the worst one. We'll sit on that awhile, in case we are attacked, when someone senses that you have powered down your circle."

Jaden and Cho inspected all of the calcites. In addition to the cracked calcite, there was another that wasn't in great shape. I could tell where it had been repaired, leaving it smaller than its sisters.

"If you expect an attack when we power down the circle, then we are in trouble," Cho told me. "You and I both know that it will take many days to replace all five calcites. Even cutting out the two bad ones and installing a new silver web will take a couple of days. It's a very great risk. Better to evacuate Little Ba'al and have him join us on the Quest. Of course it's entirely possible that nothing happens until we leave here. Somebody also wants us to build a circle in the White Stone cave."

Little Ba'al did not look pleased at the suggestion that he abandon his home to an unknown invader.

I agreed that they were both right. This called for a different approach.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," I told everyone. "We can't remove the calcites we need or repair the circle without powering it down. My gut says that to power it down is to be attacked. There is enough room between the inner and outer circle that we can just install a new calcite ring outside the old one. We have enough silver to do that. That means we have to Witch sculpt the circular trench for the six new calcites. I'll use my Light Guardian knowledge to design a more effective silver lattice. Our trench must be eight inches wide and we'll limit it to six inches deep. We don't have enough silver for anything more than that."

Even with Witch sculpting, that was a lot of stone to remove. It was a full two days of work, then another day to place the calcites in the trench and silver them in place. If someone expected that we would quickly disable the circle, he had to be very disappointed. I hoped that his attack plan was on a very tight schedule and that our extended stay at Petra was messing it up. It was another half day and most of our remaining silver to install the silver lattice-work between each of our new calcites.

Now came the tricky part. I wanted to at least test our new calcite circle on low power. I powered it up at the same time that I slowly depowered Ba'al's calcites all the way to off. I was matching all the power that his circle had been putting out with the new crystal at just a quarter power. The viewers said that everything looked good.

We quickly apparated the old calcites onto the floor of the cave. We carefully installed our piece of monolith in the base of one of the calcites which would be returning with us to Azkaban. I thought it looked undetectable. We had Witch sculpted out a cylinder in the shape of my piece of monolith, inserted the monolith, then reinstalled the shortened calcite cylinder with such tight tolerance that it should stay in place. It was almost undetectable. With a few spells it became totally undetectable. Since this part of the calcite would be below the surface of the silver in the trench, and instabilities in the magical force lines would be totally hidden. However, at a command from me, my piece of monolith could put out just enough energy tuned just right to totally shatter this calcite, if it was operating at even half power. I was quite sure that Mr. Bad Guy would want to operate it well above half power.

I explained to Cho how I could make this circle even more powerful, by sculpting four quite small good pieces of calcite from Little Ba'al's two bad calcites and installing them in the original silver trench, along with two very nice tourmalines I had brought with me. This took an extra day, but it also allowed me to install a piece of monolith to allow me to control this circle. I told Little Ba'al what I had done. Surprisingly he trusted me, nodding okay.

"We can have very nasty trick for bad Wizard," he told me.

It was now time to turn off the circle and see whom we attracted. I managed to reach out and whisper to Harry that all was in readiness. Harry told me to deactivate the circle and I did just that.

While we waited for I knew not what, I showed Little Ba'al how to repower the circle. I also gave him a cellphone so that he could contact us after we had left. I planned to apparate back if Little Ba'al was attacked.

We waited a day. I took the time to improve the silver lattice between the basalts. I added a diamond to the lodestone and tuned it to the new inner circle of tiny calcites and tourmalines.

There was no attack. I called for Cotto and he transported us and the three 'stolen' calcites back to Azkaban. Our successful plundering of Little Ba'al was duly reported to my Stone.

We still had work to finish at Azkaban, although Hermione's crew had made great progress. The basalt circle was finished, including its silver lattice. The trench for my calcites was ready.

Hermione asked me "Are these calcites ready to be installed?"

I told her that absolutely everything was in readiness and we should quickly move ahead. Hermione showed me where a pile of excess silver from the basalt trench lay near to the two discarded silver rods, which had previously leashed the White Stone. She whispered to me that she had installed a very elaborate web of spells, which would flip the rods against the White Stone, when we triggered our piece of monolith. I was amazed at her ingenuity.

It took only a day to install and wire the three calcites. That's an advantage of a huge crew and a really small, primitive circle. We also didn't make a very elaborate silver lattice, because we didn't want this circle to be very powerful. We wanted our unknown adversary to have to push this circle to its very limit to get it to do what was necessary for his plot.

We ramped up the power to a third strength. All seemed stable and the White Stone seemed perfectly happy to power the circle.

I announced to the air "Our work is ready to be inspected."

Both Cotto and Firenze appeared almost instantly.

They both inspected our circle and decided that it was working perfectly. Cotto seemed to communicate with my Black Stone and as soon as he returned his focus to us, the circle shot up close to full power, the White Stone glowed hotter, the cave got warmer, and then the power was cut back to where we had set it.

"This seems like excellent work," Cotto complimented us. "I am pleased that you incorporated a piece of the Black Stone, as I instructed. You used the proper calcites, but you did not leave the Petra circle dismantled as your Stone and I wished you to do."

"And that also wasn't a part of the assignment which I accepted," I answered back.

"That is true. You have managed to outsmart us. I will be more careful in phrasing your future instructions."

"I have only done what was necessary to prevent poor Little Ba'al from being slaughtered by bad actors, unknown," I told Cotto. "Your desired end result was either flawed or intentionally nasty. I won't be a party to nasty. You can describe nasty in as much detail as you feel totally destroys my flexibility. I will just abandon the Quest. I will not do nasty."

"You don't know it's nasty," Firenze objected. "I admit that your instructions were odd, but you can't be certain they were ill-intentioned."

"No, but I can make a reasonable guess and so can you. Before you assign our next task, have you considered relaxing the Quest rules to something half-way reasonable?"

"We have, although I'm tempted to say 'bad, mistrustful young Witch'. You must have faith in the Light Guardian and the directors of your Quest. The Black Stone is an artifact of the Light Guardian. It would not harm you."

"It would not intentionally harm me, but it is not fully in control of itself. I rather you say 'bad Witch' than 'poor dead Witch'. Now, what about the rules?"

"We think it is alright for you to see the sky and to freely apparate among the Quest locations you have already visited or the floor of the pyramid, which is your place of retreat. Still, you may not physically meet with your Keepers."

"Why?"

"It seems not in the spirit of the Quest."

"The ballad suggests that they may go wherever they are able to go. They have been able to go to all of our Quest locations to deliver supplies."

"I knew that this would happen. Relax one rule and you want to do away with all of the rules. No, that will not be permitted. The changes I described will be the only changes. Are you willing to listen to your next assignment, under the revised conditions I have described?"

"Yes, I am. Does what we've done so far count as three sites or only two? Are we going to Durmstrang now?"

"You really must be the most impertinent Mother in all the history of the Quest. And no, you are not going to Durmstrang next, so I guess we count sites by how many assignments you've completed."

"You are going to Stonehenge. There is a small cavern five hundred feet beneath Stonehenge. You will build a small circle there and link it to the main Stonehenge circle. You will also wire the upper circle with spider silk. Aagog will be allowed to return to your group for this purpose. Speaking of departed members, I trust that Narcissa will be released, once I transport you from here?"

"That's up to Harry and the Ministry to decide. I'll advise that he wait awhile. I assume that the cavern beneath Stonehenge is big enough for my whole team?"

"It is not. Pegasus and Cantring will wait inside the Chamber of Secrets, while to complete your task. They will rejoin you at your next station, if you are successful in this task."

"Do you have specifications for this circle?"

"I do, and I will state them most carefully, given your proclivity to invent a path other than the intended one. We require only a simple circle. A one-ton lodestone in the center. One of your diamonds in the center of the lodestone. Three tourmalines surrounding the diamond. One of your quartz crystal cylinders must be installed in the cavern ceiling directly above the lodestone. Around the lodestone must be three calcites, linked by a quarter-inch silver wire. No silver trench is needed. On the surface, in the exact center of the Stonehenge circle, you will place a quarter ton lodestone with a diamond matched to the one you use in the cavern installed in its center.

"Each of the vertical Stonehenge stones will be connected by two courses of silk. The first course will be one foot from the ground and the upper course will be at four feet. That is all. Everything you need" is already in the cavern. I intend to avoid having your Keepers deliver any surprises. Oh, one other thing – Brighid and Scathach may not join you at Stonehenge."

"Gee, those are really great rules. Do you think Dad will miss the fact that my Quest seems to be surrounding Hogwarts with new circles? Do you think he might not see that as a threat, since I am setting up the circles to be remotely controlled by the Stone? That is, by a Black Stone which isn't convinced it has complete control of itself, and admits that it has a lot of thinking to do. I see that all of your relaxation of the rules are the bare minimum required for us to do what we must do to complete this task. Does that mean you're going to cheat and return to the old rules, after we finish this task."

"It does not. The new rules are the rules going forward. The specifics of your next assignment convinced us that we had misinterpreted our Quest knowledge. We take our lead from the Light Guardian and its Stone and correct our interpretation of the rules to match. You should not be so flippant. The Quest is designed to be a test of faith as much as a test of courage and ability. Since the Quest will benefit all of our communities, we will all have to trust in the Light Guardian and its Stone. I know it is not easy, but I thought you stronger and more faithful than you have proven to be.

"There are two more requirements. While you are completing the task at Stonehenge, Cho will lead those in the Chamber of Secrets to install a piece of the Stone in that circle, as you should have done originally. They will remove the piece of your monolith and give that piece to me. Second, you must complete your Stonehenge assignment at precisely two in the morning, three days from now. Miss that time by even five minutes and you will forfeit your Quest. Divide your party into the two groups and we will transport you immediately."

I observed Hermione doing a 'leviosum' to supply another piece of monolith to Cho. I guess we were ready. I had already whispered the new assignment to Harry. Tony said he was mobilizing an armored brigade and would have it concealed as close to Stonehenge as possible.

"Now, if you will please link hands with me…"

"I have a question," Hermione told Firenze.

"No questions," Cotto told her.

"I thought the Muse was always allowed one question," Hermione retorted.

"Alright, what is it?" Cotto asked her.

"You don't suppose that the Light Guardian is testing our intelligence, rather than our faith?" Hermione asked.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty – Stonehenge**

We found ourselves standing inside a very small cavern. As we had been promised, all of our supplies were present. We even had a boiling cauldron of what smelled like chicken cooking in a red wine sauce. There were containers of water and of course everything needed to build the circle.

"I realize this is abrupt, but you haven't proven as reliable a Mother as I had expected you would be," Cotto told me. "Depending upon how you choose to see things, you could consider this to be cheating on your behalf, or you could consider this taking the necessary steps to prevent you from betraying all of our communities and throwing away the Golden Age we were all promised. I am disappointed in you, but have insured that you have at least one more chance to fulfill your destiny. I thought that I had taught you to be better than this."

"I'm my own person," I told Cotto. "For now, you've forced me to do what you want. Make no mistake - after we reach Durmstrang, I will very seriously consider abandoning this Quest. And thanks for the rule change. You needed us to go on the surface at this station, so… I guess I won't need to summon you to grade our work. You know what time your inspection is scheduled for. I take it that we are to apparate to the surface on our own power to finish this assignment."

"You've done so much on your own initiative already. I thought that would appeal to you. If you want me to come and transport you, you may summon me."

There was a pop and Cotto was gone.

"I hope you don't mind my rejoining you. I felt such a coward after I abandoned you. I could have at least held out until Egypt. I am ashamed of myself."

I hadn't noticed Aagog before.

"No problem," I told her. "We're happy to see you again. This has been a very strange Quest for all of us. If I hadn't made a promise to Dad, I would have abandoned the Quest, also. They want you to do a lot of spinning. We will be allowed to go up onto the surface. I expect that once we finish our task that we will have a very difficult fight on our hands."

"I will bite. I am not afraid to fight."

"I know you're not. We'll protect each other. That is the proper spirit for a Quest. Now we have a lot of work to do to prepare this cavern."

As we organized the supplies which we had brought, along with what Cotto had left for us, it became clear that Cotto had not provided any raw meat for Aagog. I communicated through the Stone, chastising Cotto for his thoughtless ill-treatment of someone he had hauled back into the Quest to satisfy his own ends.

Cotto was not in his normal good humor when he arrived, although he was carrying several pounds of raw meat. Ignoring me at first, he personally presented the meat to Aagog, apologizing to her for his error.

He told me, "as you can see, I am more than happy to correct a mistake. You could have asked me nicely."

He was gone before I could respond. We got to work. Hermione and I worked on the trickiest part first – installing the diamond in the smaller lodestone. It was tricky, because I was certain that we were being spied upon. I had to make the hole in the top of the lodestone just enough too deep that Hermione would have space to hide her second last piece of the monolith beneath the diamond.

It was left to poor Mafalda to be the bumbler who left a Weasley whiz-bang too close to the campfire and accidentally knocked it into the flames. Barb and I had positioned our bodies to block any view of Hermione other than from directly above as she prepared to install the diamond. As the whiz-bangs exploded, the two phoenixes took flight, flapping around above our heads and totally obscuring the topside view of Hermione, as she used 'leviosum' to sneak the monolith chip from her pocket into the hole, just before she installed the diamond. Barb was ready with the molten silver to seal the diamond in place, before our proctors could arrive and demand a closer look.

"What happened back there," Barb demanded of Mafalda. "I had my hands full of molten silver, which I easily could have splattered on Ginny and Hermione, if I allowed that noise to startle me. We are all very lucky that I have trained auror nerves."

"I'm sorry," Mafalda sounded truly repentant and very old. "I dropped one of those Weasley things you packed in my sack as I was trying to grab an orange to eat. I accidentally kicked it, while I was trying to find it. I'm just clumsy. At least no damage was done. I'll go to the far corner to eat my orange."

She was managing to produce such very genuine tears, quite a lot of them in fact, that Hermione and I hurried over to comfort her. Barb also stepped away from the lodestone, so that Cotto could get a very good look at it. I doubt he possibly could have noticed our trickery. He did not appear to demand that we put things right.

Since the calcites did not need to be placed in a silver-filled ditch, it was quite easy to deal with them. They were lying on their sides, so we were able to visualize the entirety of their bases. We memorized every detail and then Witch sculpted a matching hole in the floor of the cave.

I knew that Cissy was a lot better than Barb at Witch sculpting, so she was charged with one hole, while Hermione and I managed the others. Cissy seemed very pleased to be entrusted with such an important task. She had been very well behaved on the Quest and had been quite helpful in small ways, as well as doing her share of the scut work, but this was the most significant job entrusted to her. More to the point, she knew that she had been chosen to do this because her skill exceeded Barb's. Cissy had grown quite attached to Barb.

As I led Cissy to the exact spot where I wanted the hole, I whispered to her as we both bent over the spot and I marked it with a small stone. "I want you to start a fight with me to cover what Hermione is about to do.

"Now, this is VERY important," I told Cissy in a manner which out-McGonagalled McGonagall, "the hole has to be just the slightest bit larger than the calcite in all directions, so that it will install easily. You have to be VERY careful – perhaps you should go back and take another look at the calcite."

"NOW I am going to have to go back and look again – you've broken my concentration," Cissy raised her voice. "It's nice that you've trust me to do this, but you have to learn to REALLY trust me. I'm actually better at Witch sculpting than you are."

"You're good, but you're not that good," I told her.

Cissy just turned away from me and walked back to her calcite. She stood staring at it for an exaggerated length of time, before doing her hop and skip walk back to the spot where she was to make her hole. Before I could say a word, she gave a little smirk and ka-pow, the hole was there.

I went and made my own hole. I also had to get a second look at the calcite before doing so. When I finished, both Cissy and Hermione were standing next to me.

"Good job," Hermione appraised my work. "I also did a very good job completing all the work you assigned to me. Shall we move the calcites. Let's start with mine."

This was not easy work. All five of us had to handle each calcite. We had to first 'leviosum' the thing until it was exactly vertical. Then we did a group apparate until we had the bottom of the calcite just inches above the surface of the cavern. Then it was brute force to guide the falling calcite snugly into the hole.

We stopped for dinner and sleep. I surreptitiously tested Cotto's stew with my wand to make sure it wasn't potioned. I might be getting very mistrustful of everything and everyone, but given all the strange things happening on my Quest, I did not view this action as obsessive. The stew passed. It was very tasty, basically chicken cooked in red wine with potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and a lot of spices. I ate what would normally pass for two servings. Building a circle is hard work.

I whispered with Harry before I slept.

{{How are things on your end. Our special construction projects are finished and I don't think our spy realized what we were doing. We wanted to get that done first, in case we were watched more closely at the end. With the way you were prevented from bringing us supplies, I almost expected to build this circle with Cotto and Firenze standing guard over us.}}

{[Perplexed but amused] Yes, I don't really understand the way those two have been behaving. Especially Cotto – I thought I understood him and that he trusted all of us to decide and do what needed to be done. We've been mostly right so far. Things are fine here. We know when the trouble is expected. I'll have every auror the Ministry employs involved in this. Your Dad and I are commanding the troops, along with Shacklebolt, so that our protection aurors can also participate. I love you. Good luck to all of us. Remember to drink your 'felix'. Ron and I will be drinking ours and making sure that your parents also down a dose. Every auror will be dosed. I think we have enough to supply the Hogwarts faculty as well.}

The stew had been good enough that I had more for breakfast. Although Barb had stood watch, while the rest of us slept, I re-tested the stew, before consuming it. Barb just ate an orange as she sat with us, then toddled off to sleep.

We started our work shift by apparating the larger of the lodestones into position. I had sort of been kidding with Harry, but as soon as we had placed the lodestone in position, there was a pop and Cotto was seated atop it.

"Must watch for treachery," He unapologetically told me. "I know what to expect from you. I will watch you install the diamond and the piece of the Stone."

"Fine, make yourself comfortable. I am supposed to be the Mother of the Future and to know and decide what must be done. You seem to be the self-appointed Stern Father of the Future. Your stew was very tasty, by the way, but we are now out of food."

"You can't trick me into leaving quite so easily. I will ask Firenze to send another Elf with food. You work first, then you eat again. I am only as firm as I must be."

Well that was alright, I wasn't hungry right this minute. I thought about where to install the piece of Black Stone. I couldn't put it under the diamond. That would be a give-away that would cause Cotto to order us to remove the diamond from the smaller lodestone, so that he could do a close inspection. Cotto was very smart, so I had to be very wily. The advantage that Hermione and I had was that we were wilier and more willing to cheat than either Cotto or Firenze realized.

I called the others over for a consultation. "I think we put the diamond in the center, with the tourmalines in three corners of a square and this piece of the Black Stone in the fourth corner," I suggested.

Cissy declared that solution to be 'just brilliant'. Mafalda and Hermione agreed that it should work.

"Do we have your permission to do that, or would you like to design the pattern yourself?" I asked Cotto, pretending to earnestly desire his advice on the subject.

"Why not put beneath diamond?" Cotto asked, sending my heart leaping into palpitations.

"Because it might interfere with the diamond having sufficient contact with the lodestone and because the piece of the Black Stone is supposed to interact with the lodestone, not the diamond," Hermione explained to him, before I could gather my thoughts.

"That makes sense. Please do it," Cotto told us.

We got to work. With Witch sculpting it didn't take long to make the holes for these small stones. Cissy and Barb each got a chance to sculpt a hole and I made certain that I was convincingly bossy with both of them. We melted silver to seal the stones in place.

"Why use silver?" Cotto demanded an explanation. "This is to be a primitive circle."

"It likely won't work without silver," I explained.

"You are trying to run out of silver, before you connect the calcites," Cotto accused.

"You are a really demanding boss," I told him. "If you don't want us to use silver, we won't use silver. If the circle doesn't work, it's on you, not on us. Why don't you just bring us more silver?"

"Cotto not leave, I must watch you."

"Then have the food Elf bring the silver."

"Alright, you may use silver. Cotto get more silver."

We finished that chore and moved on to the quite simple task of connecting the calcites with the thick silver wire. As Cotto had predicted, we ran out of silver before we could make the final connection.

We all just sat down, drank water and rested, as we waited to see what Cotto would do.

I didn't have to wait long, until I heard a pop and smelled a very spicy curry of the hot red variety. An Elf, whom I didn't recognize, had transported a tremendous load: a large cauldron of curry and two silver bars and another pound of raw meat for Aagog.

Cotto wasn't going to repeat his prior error. He wanted Aagog very well nourished so that spin more silk than all she had spun in the rest of her young life. He must not have known of this assignment when I named my Quest team, or he would have insisted upon another spider.

It was a vegetable curry and it was very tasty. I again ate two portions. As we continued to lounge around, Cotto grew more restless, so I urged my assistants to their feet and we completed the circle. It wasn't hard – just turning two bars of silver into a thick silver wire and connecting it to two calcites. It took us half an hour.

Of course, we still had to install the quartz cylinder in the ceiling of the cavern. That would be tricky. The cavern was tiny, but the ceiling was quite high in the portion above the lodestone. It was nearly ten feed above the top of the lodestone. None of us was tall enough to stand and do the job. It would have to be done either at the peak of an apparation or while almost hovering, while flying a broom in this cramped space. Even harder, it had to be centered exactly above the diamond and it had to be mounted exactly vertically.

Hermione had a better way. She could lie on her back atop the lodestone, fitting her head and neck between two of the tourmalines, so that the back of her head rested right on the diamond and she was staring up facing the spot on the ceiling where the hole was required. She seemed to enjoy scooting Cotto first to the right then to the left as she shifted her legs to find just the right position.

"Good, I can do this," she declared. "First I just need to mark the center of the spot on the ceiling. I need to make a ten-foot plumb bob. I've got thread in my bag. I just need an appropriate weight. You can break out your broom, while I rig my plumb bob. You're better at the flying part than I could ever hope to be."

I pulled the straw hat out of the bag Hermione had equipped me with and without even looking the hat was transfigured into my broom. I was getting really good at transfiguration. Unlike Cissy, I never had a problem transferring my Witch sculpture skills to transfiguration. I would have thought that my own McGonagall block was every bit as strong as hers. It is strange what mental barriers a shy Witch can erect to block her own growth.

I was surprised to see that Hermione has produced the old Voldemort horcrux locket to use as the weight for her plumb bob. She had already tied the thread to it.

"Be careful with this," she told me. "This is Muggle thread, fishing line actually, but the locket is heavy, so the thread could break. Take this lipstick and mark the point on the ceiling."

I flew off with the tools provided to me. I hovered as long as I could, close enough to the ceiling to hold my finger with the loop at the end of the thread over it against the ceiling. Hermione tried to stop the locket from swinging. By the time she did this, I had to fly away from the ceiling. You have to keep moving on a broom, you can't just hover for longer than a second. I tried my best – eight times I tried my best. I finally landed, telling Hermione that this wasn't going to work.

Hermione fished through her bag and pulled out what she called 'rock climbing gear'. "You just need to take this hammer and bang this spiky thing into the ceiling, but you can't do it too close to where we want to put the quartz, or you'll crack the stone in the quartz hole, if you can understand what I mean."

I thought I understood. Although I told Hermione that I didn't know how to climb rocks using Muggle gear. Hermione thought I was such a good athlete that she could teach me to do it. She was quite sure that she couldn't do it herself.

Cotto thought he understood that more treachery was afoot. "Really! You packed rock climbing gear, but you didn't pack a ladder? Just pull the ladder out of your bag and get on with your work."

"Of course I packed a ladder. I packed two ladders. Cho was carrying them. I didn't know that you were suddenly going to split our team, did I? If you were so sure we needed a ladder, you should have left a ladder here, like you left the lodestones and the calcites and the piece of the Black Rock."

"That would be cheating. Those who go on the Quest or their Keepers must bring what they need. They must make their own plan to complete their assignments."

"Yet here you are telling me what I should do," Hermione complained. "Isn't that cheating? Are you even supposed to be here, while we complete our assignment. I know you were here spying before you decided to become visible. Isn't that cheating?"

"If you do more treachery, Black Stone or Light Guardian say you lose Quest. That hurts our community also. I stop treachery and help you win Quest, but I do not cheat for you. I make you do what is right. Why are you angry?"

"I am angry because we are supposed to decide how we conduct our Quest. We aren't supposed to do it the way you think it should be done. As you said, you aren't the judge of whether or not we broke the Quest rules and must be disqualified. You aren't even sure what the rules are. Neither am I, but it is Ginny's and my choice, not yours. It is up to us to decide if we have a treachery problem. If you had done what you were supposed to do and told us the whole plan for this assignment and given us time for our Keepers to bring us what we needed, then we would have plenty of ladders. This is your fault, not mine, so please be quiet and let me decide what to do next."

I was surprised to hear Hermione unload on Cotto like that. Cotto also seemed surprised.

"Do you think that you can hover long enough to hammer in the spike?" Hermione went right back to where she was, before Cotto interrupted her.

"I might be able to, but I think Catta can hover at least twice as long as I can, with that mini-apparate thing she does."

Catta agreed that she would try. She was successful on the first try. She also tied the end of the thread to the end of the spike the first time. We all praised Catta as Hermione measured off the distance between where the spike was and where the quartz had to go. She marked that distance on a measuring stick and told Catta to measure off that distance from the spike and sweep the measuring stick around the spike, while marking the ceiling with Hermione's lipstick held at the end of the stick.

Hermione asked Catta to repeat the procedure, using a second stake. I understood as soon as Catta finished this task. The quartz had to go where the two part-circles crossed each other.

"That's it, you've done it," I congratulated Hermione.

"Not quite. We still have to make certain that we Witch sculpt the hole exactly straight up. Can you do that? I mean really, really straight up?"

"I don't know. I'll certainly give it a try."

"We only get one try."

Really? It all came down to this. Hermione had Catta hammer a very tiny spike just at the center of where the quartz had to go and tie her plumb bob onto it.

"Okay, don't do it yet, Ginny. Just practice sighting along the thread and pretending to Witch sculpt the hole."

I did practice. It wasn't at all easy. I had to start visualizing as a slowly flew close to the thread, lean over and sight along it and pretend sculpt, before my broom pulled me away. I just couldn't do it.

"I think either of us can do this better at a distance, lying on the lodestone, with our head on the diamond. You could do it as well as I," I told Hermione.

She said that it was too hard to judge how wide to make the hole from that great a distance. She thought and then she smeared her lipstick on one end of the quartz and asked Catta to firmly press that end against the ceiling.

"I can sort of see the circle," I told Hermione. The ceiling was so uneven it didn't mark very clearly."

"You are acting hopeless," Cotto complained. "And you will soon run out of time. There is much work to do on the surface. If you don't finish in time, Quest is over."

"Barb can guard Aagog, while she starts working on the surface," Hermione suggested.

"More treachery?" Cotto asked.

"What's with the treachery?" I challenged him. "It's my Quest. I don't have to sabotage it. If I quit, the Quest is over. Why would I use treachery?"

Cotto agreed that he would apparate all of us to the surface. Barb and Aagog would stay and start working. The rest of us would mark a spot, so we could apparate to a safe spot on the surface when we finished the quartz. I felt much safer with this approach. Hermione had been to Stonehenge and likely knew the spot, but that was far different than apparating others through five hundred feet of rock.

Hermione said that I should try the Witch sculpting, but make a hole only half as wide as the quartz to start. If I was off just a little, this would allow us to correct my error. I did as Hermione asked, although I sculpted only half the length as well as only half the width to start. Hermione made a funny-looking device out of bent silver wires to hold the plumb bob thread at the top of the hole I had made.

It was really very good, although Hermione declared "as I expected, you are off just a little, tilted this way." She jerked her thumb 'this way'.

I focused and tried again. Slightly changing my vision so that the final half of the hole leaned a lttle less 'this way'. Catta was recruited to make a second test and this time Hermione was pleased.

"I think that's close enough. Just visualize widening the hole. To be safe, just go half the way."

"I did that. Hermione suggested just a slight correction, which I made on my last sculpt."

We had made the whole rather snug on purpose. Before trying to insert the quartz, Hermione even insisted on a tiny notch at the side of the circle and the full length of the hole.

"It's needed to let the air escape, when we try to push in the quartz," she explained to all of us. I just did as she instructed.

I made sure that Hermione had thoroughly removed all of her lipstick. Of course she had. She's Hermione.

Catta and I worked together to ram the quartz rod into the hole. We got it almost halfway in. At least it didn't fall out. Hermione provided a rubber-faced hammer to use in pounding the quartz into the hole. It took me a dozen passes on my broom and more whacks than that, but I got the quartz into the hole. Although we were almost out of time, Hermione insisted upon sealing the quartz to the stone with a little bit of molten silver. I burned myself and my broom, but I completed the assignment. Working for Hermione could be almost as bad as working for Cotto.

Cotto insisted on a quick test of the circle. We powered it up to a quarter and checked the circle through the viewer. There really wasn't much to see, with only one thick silver wire between the calcites. All looked good.

Cotto asked the Stone to try raising and lowering the power. Cotto was pleased. "I approve your work. Now you must quickly take the smaller lodestone to the surface and place it exactly."

Our whole group apparated to the surface. Barb told me that Aagog was very tired, but nearly finished. I didn't know whether or not one could give a chocolate bar to a spider to pep her up. I decided not to risk it.

Hermione and I used the viewer to determine where the magical force coming from the ground was strongest. We moved the lodestone to right over that spot. I touched the diamond with my wand to energize the lodestone. I heard an excited squeal from Hermione.

"The Stonehenge circle is coming alive. Look for yourself."

I did. All of the stones were glowing softly, with no sparking between them.

"So we pass?" I asked Cotto.

"You do. I just must ask the Stone to try adjusting the power of the Stonehenge circle."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-One – Much Treachery**

The power of the Stonehenge circle surged up, stayed there a minute, then diminished. Cotto seemed pleased.

There was a pop and Firenze was with us. "Cho installed the piece of the Stone in the Chamber of Secrets, just as we directed that she do," Firenze reported to Cotto. "She returned the piece of treachery that Ginny and Hermione installed in its place."

He prepared to hand the monolith fragment to Cotto. I stepped forward and took it out of his hand, before he could give it to Cotto. "That is the property of my community's Ministry. It is not yours to give away."

To the shock of both Cotto and Firenze, I placed the fragment in my pocket and requested our next assignment.

I wasn't expecting trouble from Cotto, but I was expecting it from somebody. I tied into the Stone enough to once again update my defensive charms and to extend my enhanced 'Shield' charm around our whole group. I sensed Hermione doing the same. I decided to check in with the Stone.

**We've completed our assignment and are ready for the next. Have you finished your thinking and have you re-established full control of yourself?**

The Stone's response was unsettling.

**I have thought. I think your Quest has been compromised, by one who can sometimes control me. Even now, I feel not fully in command of myself. Think for yourself, if you believe I am not acting like my true self.**

There was a pop and suddenly I was staring at the wands of Delores Umbridge and two dudes whom I didn't recognize. They were firing curses from the second they arrived.

I was struck by a 'petrificus totalis' at the same instant I noticed Umbridge. I was still in control of my body, but her spell caught me so much by surprise that it did knock me to the ground. I immediately realized that I was able to move and had my wand pointed at her.

I boosted my 'shield' charm, drawing on the Stone to strengthen its power as I protected my friends. I was surprised that the baddies were using 'petrificus' – they wanted us all alive for some reason. I feigned petrification as I watched to see what would happen. I sensed that Hermione had done the same. Barb chopped down Umbridge's largest companion with an 'Avada Kedavra', leading me to believe he was an escapee, whom I really should recognize. Cissy nailed the second dude with an 'Off!' curse but was petrificused at the same time.

My whole team was either petrificused or pretending to be. No, that wasn't quite true. I saw that they had missed Aagog, who was hiding beside one of the bluestones.

Umbridge drew a cellphone from her pocket and spoke into it. "Stonehenge is secure. I'll keep my prisoners alive until I'm sure this thing is working as it is supposed to. You may order the Black Stone to increase it to full power. Do the same with the other circles. When we know that these fools have actually prepared the way for us and all the circles are at full power, then you may attack Little Ba'al and steal the gems from his circle. Give us ten minutes so the Great One is revived. We'll boost all the circles to full power at the same time, that will start his rejuvenation. Do it on one, two, three, now!"

I felt the circle around me surging to more power than I thought possible. Umbridge drew a metal foil cap from her robes and placed it upon her head. She spoke right at me. "I am drawing enough power from the circle that my 'cruciatus' can fry all of your brains at once. Just a little taste, until I can be sure you are no longer needed. This is for all the trouble that all of you have caused for me and my associates. This is for my beloved Thicky. You thought that pathetic Ronald Weasley had actually killed me.

"The fool didn't even use a killing curse. He was the only one of you with any backbone and you neutered him. For that mistake you will all suffer to death. The Longbottoms had it easy compared to what I will do to you. To think that I might have died at the hands of a boy with as weak a name as Ronald. A weak name for a boy who ultimately proved to be a very weak Wizard. Let that be a lesson to die with. If you have the chance to kill a mortal foe. Make certain you leave that foe totally dead. That's what my Thicky and I always did."

I had been conveying all of this to Harry on an open whisper-channel, so I had no doubt that aurors and British soldiers were moving in on this location. I didn't think that I could wait that long. I sent an 'off!" curse at Umbridge, but she barely noticed it, just stepping backward a step. A second 'off' from Hermione staggered, but failed to drop her.

"Cruciatus!" screamed Umbridge, just as Hermione and I triggered the monolith. The circle went dead instantly - as the lodestone exploded, so did my head. Umbridge also grasped her head in pain. The pain which had begun to rise in my own head stopped abruptly.

Aagog raced forward and bit the staggering Umbridge on her ankle. Umbridge futilely kicked at her as Aagog raced away. Then Umbridge collapsed to her knees. She raised her arm and moved her wand toward my head.

"Kill!" I shouted.

Umbridge fell face-first into the ground. My assistants were all unfrozen as Umbridge hit the turf.

"Let's go help Little Ba'al," I rallied my troops.

Just then the voice of the Stone filled my head.

**There is great danger in Chamber of Secrets, your friends are under attack by a God and by something – other.**

I didn't want to leave Little Ba'al on his own. I also didn't know if I could trust the Stone.

**Little Ba'al needs us. I can't abandon him.**

The Stone was desperate. **I am losing control. You must help Cho. Ba'al can wait.**

I quickly made my decision. "Change of plans. We have to rescue Cho first."

We had to travel as several linked groups. There just wasn't enough open space in the Chamber of Secrets. I had to try three different landing zones, until I succeeded in apparating, after bunching Cissy, Barb, and Mafalda tightly against myself.

We broke from our huddle as soon as our feet touched the stone, wands pointed in all directions. I saw the fight to my right, just outside the entrance to the basilisk lair. There were four attackers right in front of the ruined Slytherin statue. I fired 'Off!' curses at them as I approached the battle. My team was backed up against the right wall. I extended my 'Shield' charm to protect them. Barb and Cissy were cursing the attackers with alternating 'Off', 'Petrificus Totalis', and 'Kill!' curses. The attackers weren't falling. They blocked the curses as they blocked arrows from Cantring.

I fired a 'Sectumsempra', as Hermione appeared at my side.

"Special curse," she whispered, as she knelt by my side.

We linked hands and touched the tips of our wands. "Guy in the middle on one, two, three 'Exterminate!' That lost his wand at least. He kind of looks a lot like Slytherin."

Just as one of the attackers turned his attention to us, there was a loud bang to our side and a giant boar charged at the attackers. A veiled old hag, wielding a long staff charged after the boar. The rest of us moved forward. Cotto used the Elf equivalent of 'back' to knock the lead baddy back on his heels.

"More of that," the hag shouted.

"Back!" I shouted, drawing as much power from the Stone as I could. Everyone, use the 'Back!' curse, I commanded my troops.

I reached for maximum stone power and felt a searing pain. I dropped to the ground and quickly cut my link to the Stone. With what strength I had left, I sent another 'back' spell at the Slytherin look-alike, driving him into the basilisk lair.

Scathach herded the others into the lair, firing lightning bolts from her spear. She even stabbed one guy. One attacker lingered and pointed a finger at Scathach. Purple lightning struck her in the chest and she staggered back, just as Pegasus gored her attacker in the stomach, driving him into the basilisk lair. His feet threw up splashes of filthy water as he fell backward.

The hag raced forward and stabbed her staff into the stone floor of the lair. It was instantly changed to ice. The attackers were stuck in place, their feet and the one guy's bottom frozen into the ice. They tried to fight from that position, but were hampered by the way their legs got scrambled as they fell back into the lair.

I was now on my feet and joining my friends in pressing the attack. We were moving targets, while our foes were locked in place. We pelted them with curses. Cho and Jaden unleased an 'Exterminate!' This didn't drop anyone, but it tore an arm off the Slytherin look-alike. Barb and Cissy fired an 'Exterminate!' dropping one of the attackers, who sort of crumpled over but couldn't fall all the way to the floor, because his feet were locked in place.

Suddenly, the other three attackers were gone. I checked behind us, but the space behind us was empty. The three remaining attackers had apparated to safety. I quickly scanned the ranks of my assistants to see if anyone was injured. Scathach was back up, but moving gingerly. Pegasus had a slash across her right flank. Hermione was tending to her injury.

Harry arrived with several aurors. I asked them to see to Pegasus.

For the rest of my team, further battle awaited us. "On to Petra," I ordered. We had to probe for apparation landing points individually. Little Ba'al's cave was small and a battle was raging.

By the time I managed to apparate, Brighid, Scathach, and the hag were already engaged in battle. I fired 'Off' curses at the attackers who were locked in combat with them. One of them did drop, the other two just kept fighting. I switched to 'Kill!' at close range on the second fighter. I was able to draw some power from Ba'al's circle as I did so. This dropped the guy, but then I was dropped as the third fighter turned and shouted an untranslatable curse at me. It was like my knees were chopped out from under me and my mind fogged. I fell hard. My head and whole right side, as well as my knees, now hurt quite a lot. Even my battle training could prevent my eyes from sneaking a quick peek to check if my legs were all there. Thankfully they were. I forced my mind back to essentials.

I was still alive and still thinking and seeing the battle, but I couldn't move. I had to fight to keep my head clear. Normally I'd have reached for the Stone, but I didn't dare to that now. I saw that Little Ba'al was successfully keeping the attackers away from his circle. Then he was felled by a sword to his head. His attacker rushed forward and slashed the wires between two of the calcites. The wires between the other calcites vanished in a flash and the circle was suddenly dead.

This fight would finish with greatly diminished magic. I was thankful that we had Scathach on our side. And two phoenixes, who were attacking the eyes of the attacker who had struck down Little Ba'al. I did the guy a favor by straining to raise my wand arm enough to fire an 'off' curse at him. He collapsed in a heap and the phoenixes left him alone. I saw that he was bleeding from one eye.

I turned my head and saw that the Slytherin look-alike indeed had only one arm and was becoming increasingly less defined in shape. This was like the way Tom Riddle had appeared in Harry's memory, before he had completely vanished. I saw that the Slytherin look-alike was missing not only his left arm but also part of his right hand, so that he could barely hold a wand.

I saw Hermione moving in on him, firing a stream of 'off!' curses. Hermione staggered him and made his body even less substantial. He was about to fall to one knee, when he vanished.

He hadn't yet become wispy enough that Hermione's curse should have obliterated him. I assume that he had once again apparated to freedom. I wondered what it would take to actually kill this guy.

A band of four baddies backed into the cave, with a squad of aurors pursuing and cursing them. Hermione and I fired 'off!' curses into the backs of two of them. A third was stabbed in the neck by Scathach's spear. A lightning bolt hit his neck right before the spear tip did. A touch of the hag's staff to the back of the final attacker turned him to an icy statue.

I seemed able to move again. Whatever curse had felled me seemed to have completely lifted as soon as our attackers either died or apparated away. It took about a minute for me to regain enough strength that I could stand.

All of my assistants seemed to be standing, although Little Ba'al was bleeding from his head and his right arm hung lifelessly by his side. It was encouraging that he was back on his feet. His mother was tending to him and Brighid was applying healing charms.

Pegasus and Cantring weren't with us, but I didn't expect them to be. I noticed that Aagog was missing and I feared that we had left her back at Stonehenge.

"We'll all meet on the floor of the pyramid, I have to go back to Stonehenge and find Aagog," I told my assistants.

"I'm coming with you," Barb insisted. "You're also going to take a few minutes to regain your strength, before you go anywhere. Eat some chocolate and drink some water. You look awful"

I did as Barb demanded. After five minutes, I felt good enough to travel, but readily accepted Barb's offer that I travel as her ride-along.

We linked hands, searched for an open spot within the circle, ramped up our defensive charms, and apparated. We were almost attacked by our own side, but the aurors recognized us and lowered their wands.

"Aagog!" I called out to her.

She came scampering from the top of one of the horizontal stones.

"Grab my leg, we're going to the pyramid," I told her. "You're welcome to join us," I told Firenze who was wandering rather aimlessly within the circle, examining the destroyed lodestone, the now-dead stone, and the fallen Umbridge and her comrades.

I grabbed hands with Barb and Firenze and apparated us to the edge of the circle, suspecting that the other arrivals would assemble in the more open part of the pyramid floor. Most of the gang was already present. So were Ron, Harry, Dad, Neville, and King Gobbledegook.

"We won," I told Dad, "but a few of the baddies got away. One looked like the statue of Salazar Slytherin. He lost an arm and part of his hand, but we couldn't drop him. Most of the curses just bounced off of him. We used our secret curse twice. That's how he lost his arm. He was truly powerful. More powerful than any Wizard I've ever seen."

"I knew it!" Dad was indeed right, when almost everyone else had doubted his Slytherin theory.

"Umbridge was also alive, but Aagog and I killed her," I told Dad. "She had used the Cruciatus curse on us and was pointing her wand at my head when I cursed her. I hope there won't be legal difficulties."

"Not from me, and not from Mrs. Longbottom," Dad promised. It's what I wanted to hear, but I didn't know how he could speak so confidently on Mrs. Longbottom's behalf.

Harry whispered me that there most certainly would not be legal difficulties, then messaged me in a panic.

{[worried] You didn't use 'Avada Kedavra' did you. We haven't managed to change that law yet.}

{{I used a 'kill!' on her}}

{[relieved] Then we're good.}


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Two – Who Were Those Guys?**

We held the post-mortem for my Quest, or at least the initial portion of my Quest, right there on the floor of the pyramid. The group had swelled in size to include Bane, Unstad, Tony, Stewart, former-King Goblanze, McGonagall, Mrs. Longbottom, Shacklebolt, Ellie, Percy, Wood, Callista, Prudence, Torva Gobbledegook, Luna, George, Viktor, Draco, and Victoria.

"If I have correctly interpreted everything that I've heard about your Quest, it seems that you were set up to fail and to advance the cause of Salazar Slytherin, whom I take it is an even worse dark Wizard than Voldemolt was. I further take it that this Slytherin is now on the loose. Is that a reasonable summing up?" Tony challenged me to disagree.

"That is essentially true," I agreed with him. "I'm not sure that the whole business of this Quest was a trick, but certainly the rules and our initial assignments came from somebody or something which can partially control the Black Stone at least part of the time. That somebody or something totally duped Cotto, Firenze, and King Gobbledegook, who spent the whole Quest trying to prevent us from following necessary safeguards. We tricked them and installed those safeguards anyway. If we had not done so, Slytherin would now be restored to full strength, Delores Umbridge would still be alive, my Quest allies and I would not be alive, and some nasty Gods would be in control, along with Slytherin."

"So, am I correct in concluding that this ill-fated Quest is now at an end?" Tony asked me.

"I don't know. I'd like to at least go on to the Durmstrang circle. I promised to help the Valkyries in their dispute with Odin."

"I do sincerely regret the trouble we have caused," Cotto addressed the whole group. "Firenze and I put too much faith in the Black Stone and in our own and King Gobbledegook's interpretation of Goblin and other legends. It should have been obvious that Ginny and Hermione were right in their doubts and that we were wrong in our faith. The Black Stone tells us that it was manipulated to shape the Quest a certain way. Unfortunately we don't know who manipulated it. Perhaps it was Slytherin."

"No, it wasn't Slytherin," Hermione firmly objected. "Slytherin was either in a deeper sleep than hibernation, supported by horcruxes, or what we encountered was a horcrux. It is realistic to believe that Slytherin knew at least as much about horcruxes as Tom Riddle did, and that he was at least as willing to turn to this sort of black magic. It is not realistic to believe that a horcrux or a supremely asleep Slytherin could influence the Black Stone."

"I'm not so sure of that. I could communicate with Voldemort while I was in the deepest of sleeps – when I was all but dead," Jaden related her own experience. "Of course, Tom established the link with me before he made me sleep. Is it not possible that Slytherin had a link with the Stone, before he either became a horcrux or put his body as near to a non-aging state of almost-death as is possible?"

"The Stone was asleep during Slytherin's entire lifetime, so that would argue no. However, there is a part of the Black Stone which is hidden to itself. Perhaps that part wakes, while the whole of the Stone which I know sleeps," I reported. "That will be the part where the manipulator hides or communicates. We or the Stone must access that part in order to understand what happened. The hidden part of itself frightened the Stone. It was promised full self-awareness if it guided me to a successful completion of my Quest. In part, it willingly allowed itself to be manipulated in order to gain this full self-awareness."

"If that is true, then the Stone cannot be trusted," Tony declared. "If it cannot be made safe, then it may be best for all if we destroy it. Ginny pretended to destroy it. Perhaps she should finish the job."

"I don't think that is necessary, but I will tell you if we approach that point," I promised Tony. "In the end, the Stone seized control of itself and told me that I needed to be in the Chamber of Secrets, rather than at Petra, where I was planning to go. I thought what I should do, and I trusted the Black Stone. That proved to be the correct decision. At other times, the Stone guided me wrongly, although in its defense, the Stone told that its guidance was faulty long before either Cotto or Firenze accepted that its and their own directions to me were horribly flawed."

"I am very sorry," Firenze told me. "I had too strong a desire to believe that what I wanted to be true actually was true. I willfully ignored the insanity of the rules I imposed upon you. If you hadn't rebelled, you'd all be dead."

"So who were those guys we fought against?" I asked Dad. "They were very hard to kill or even to drop. We pounded them with everything we had, and some just stood there and then apparated to safety. I fear that some were unkillable Gods."

"We actually killed two minor Gods," Brighid told me. "There was one other God who escaped. The rest of our adversaries were mortals. You couldn't kill Slytherin, but you did considerably diminish him. I trust he will take some time to lick his wounds. We all put up a damned good fight. I'm just glad my sister, the Cailleach Bheur, and her boar came along when they did. They turned the tide. If Ginny is willing to continue her Quest, my sister and I will help her."

"As you know," Dad reported, "you killed Delores Umbridge. You also killed Orin Funk, a Death Eater who hadn't been seen since the first Voldemort war and was presumed to have died in Azkaban. Viktor identified one of the dead and two of the captured from Petra as members of families who have supported Grindelwald. We haven't identified the others yet. Your captives will be questioned thoroughly by Shacklebolt, right after this meeting ends."

"I don't know who Orin Funk was, but I knew he had to be an escapee. I can't imagine Barb 'Avada Kedavraing' him otherwise," I blurted.

Barb seemed distressed that I had mentioned this.

Mrs. Longbottom commented, "I would have thought Orin was so far before Barb's time that she wouldn't recognize him."

"I study the pictures of escapees and known Death Eaters and Grindelwald supporters," Barb admitted. "It helps to recognize a hazard before you have a wand pointed at you. As we've now seen twice with Delores Umbridge, it doesn't do to just assume that a known Death Eater is dead. They have a way of coming back. From everything I've seen and read, that definitely was Salazar Slytherin we faced."

I knew that I had made a mistake. We didn't rat each other out for use of prohibited curses. I decided that it was best to change the subject.

"Does anyone object to continuing the Quest at least as far as Durmstrang? I think the Quest might be real, even if some false information was inserted. I won't pretend that there isn't a good chance that we meet Slytherin again. We could meet him here. Now that he's on the loose, he won't stay hidden any longer than it takes to recover his strength."

"Continuing the Quest worries me, and not just because I see it as a risk to my only daughter," Dad admitted.

"It worries me as well," Tony declared. "Thus far, it has caused nothing but trouble. Why should a continuation be any different? I know that you blame sabotage and bad information for the problems you've had, but I don't see any reason to expect that both won't continue. You don't know where to go, beyond Durmstrang, unless the Black Stone tells you, and you don't know if you can trust the Stone. You may be led into a murderous trap or used again to strengthen Slytherin or some other black Wizard.

"I've certainly seen no evidence of improvement in Britain resulting from the circles you built or fixed. Just the opposite – there have been more strange incidents of what you call wild magic. Harry tells me that your community has complained about magic being unstable. It seems you've suffered and gone to great effort in trying to achieve a noble purpose, but have just caused problems.

"Part of the problem is that you've depended too much on the views of others, and never understood that noble purpose yourself. Perhaps you partially understand it. You certainly don't understand it well enough to explain it in a way that makes any sense to me. I've been impressed by your sense of duty and stoic devotion to completing your Quest, but the what, how, and why have been missing from your discussion of it.

"You need to be a leader, not a devoted follower. The only saving grace of this Quest has come when you rebelled against the rules. I like all of the directors of your Quest, with the exception of the Stone, but they have served you very badly. They are good beings and well-intentioned, but strike me as extremely superstitious and credulous. If you continue the Quest, you must be its true leader and you must understand the what, how, and why. Otherwise you are simply a very brave puppet, who may blindly bring disaster upon us."

"I agree with Tony," Dad told me. "You told me that you wouldn't undertake the Quest unless it made sense to you and you were convinced that the benefits sufficiently exceeded the risks. It no longer makes sense to you, and the risks have been greater than you expected, in what you thought would be the easy part of the Quest. I don't see how you continue until it again makes sense to you, and you are certain that it is worth the risk. Tony's what, how, and why are key questions."

"I agree that this must be Ginny's and Hermione's Quest. It always had to be, I just lost that along the way," Firenze admitted. "She shouldn't continue until she has a better sense of things, especially of the Stone. She had some thoughts going in, regarding which circles it made sense to visit. Perhaps she should select her own destinations, at least until she is confident that she can trust the Black Stone. She can also decide her own rules. Cotto and I will advise her. I truly think that we can help her, but it is her Quest. She is the Mother."

Viktor was clearly in favor of continuing the Quest. "I know it is selfish, but I would like to see the Quest continue to Durmstrang circle. I need to know what is happening there. Trouble between Odin and the Valkyries can be trouble for our community. I think the troubles on Quest are designed to stop Quest from coming to Durmstrang. Cho joined Quest to help you, but also to help us. This is important."

"This also is important," McGonagall declared. "I demand to know what has become of Narcissa. She is the only one not to return with the Quest team."

"Narcissa deserted the Quest," I told her. "Given her relationship with the Dementors and her knowledge of our assignment at Azkaban, she was detained after abandoning the Quest. It was done for the safety of my team. I assume that she is still being detained."

"That is monstrous! She joined the Quest as a volunteer. She was perfectly entitled to leave the Quest at any time. She is not a criminal. It is totally unlawful to lock her away, merely because she frightens Ginny."

"Actually, as you are fully aware, she is a criminal," Mrs. Longbottom reminded McGonagall. "She has committed numerous crimes, including escape from custody. An escape abetted by you. She was treated gently, largely at your urging, and based upon her expressed intention to be a good and useful citizen. When she seemed more of a danger and less useful, her parole was reversed. There is nothing monstrous in that. Few of our citizens have acted as badly as Narcissa has."

"But… surely you understand the reasons for that. The horcrux, the ghost of Voldemort, Voldemorts hidden instructions lodged in her mind, her over-bearing foster parents and sister, her treacherous Death-Eater husband, Umbridge's threats against Draco – all of these things, rather than any desire to do evil, fully explain Narcissa's actions. Umbridge is dead. The ghost is destroyed. The horcrux has been removed. She volunteered for the Quest. She clearly isn't a threat to Ginny or anyone else."

"That is possibly true, but I can't be that certain about it," Draco told McGonagall.

"Neither can I," Mrs. Longbottom told her. "Narcissa will be released in due time, and may remain free if she behaves herself. Since I suspect more work must be done at the Azkaban circle, now seems an inappropriate time to release her."

"I demand to visit her. I must know that she is in good mental health and is being treated well."

"No," Mrs. Longbottom replied. "She will just have to manage until I consider her to be less of a threat. I have visited her and she is well. That knowledge will have to satisfy you."

"Well, it most certainly does not satisfy me. You are persecuting a very fragile Witch."

"I am detaining a Witch who is known to have commanded the Dementors to invade this school to commit murder. I will give her no opportunity to contact the Dementors until our business at Azkaban is concluded. I have made my decision."

"Well, can the Quest team at least do what it needs to do at Azkaban quickly enough that Narcissa's time in custody is kept to the bare minimum? I don't think it fair to keep Narcissa locked away, probably again in some dank, dark, solitary cell, while the rest of you dither over what you should do next."

Now Dad seemed angry. "We will act when we have decided upon the best and safest way to move forward. I am not unmindful of the hazards posed by either the Dementors or the White Stone. I'll not ask either brave aurors or brave Questers to rush into danger with a half-formed plan, just to spare Narcissa a day or two of further detention. That would be most unfair and also dangerous to our community. There is no guarantee that we will have more than one chance to get this right, not with Slytherin and his God-pals on the loose. My number one priority is correcting the damage done by Slytherin and his assistants."

He stared at McGonagall, daring her to contradict him. She didn't say a word.

Draco broke the silence. "I don't see a rush to free my mother. I thought she saw the Quest as her last chance for redemption in the eyes of our community. I'm surprised she abandoned it so quickly. It makes me question her motives. I know that she is on her last chance before she gets locked away forever, maybe even at Azkaban.

"I'd prefer she thinks things out before rushing to get in worse trouble. She is no longer as fragile as she was. I know she finds Professor McGonagall's efforts at help to be most cloying. She wants to put Professor McGonagall, and what happened in her seventh level, behind her. That past is dead to her. Professor McGonagall is not her spokesperson. I'm not sure I am either, but I must protect my mother, even if she is unwilling to protect herself, if her friends would just encourage her recklessness."

McGonagall looked affronted. She quickly became more affronted.

"Does Professor McGonagall really need to be at these planning sessions?" Tony strongly urged Dad to exclude her. "She always takes us from weighty problems of state to her parochial issues of school discipline or getting her former lover out of jail. Is that really what the heads of all these communities are here to discuss?"

McGonagall was all wounded dignity as she turned her back and then apparated away from us.

Looking right at me, Tony advised "If I were you, I'd cancel her apparation privileges. Erect a barrier down here that doesn't depend on the general Hogwarts defenses, which she can control. She really shouldn't have the run of this place. She's far too emotional to be reliable."

Ellie promised to erect a barrier. I didn't need to do a thing, having long since told the Stone not to facilitate her attempts to apparate into the pyramid. I also knew that the entrances would not honor her ring.

"What do you need to do at Azkaban?" Dad asked me.

"We used a piece of the monolith to turn off the circle. We also rigged a device which should have re-chained the White Stone. That could liberate the Dementors. At a minimum I want to unchain the White Stone. I don't think it wise to leave a ready-made circle of unknown purpose in place for somebody to reclaim and restart. I'd like to remove the stones we installed and make it harder for someone to rebuild the circle."

"How quickly can you do that?"

"We need rest before we do anything. I see no reason your aurors can't do what needs to be done, or at least the main part of the work, like removing the silver strap from the White Stone and then… No, I think remove the stones of the circle first and then remove the silver strap. I also don't want an unchained White Stone and the new circle to both be active. Have your aurors start on the project and we'll join them within twelve hours.

"I'm going to reset one Quest rule. My team is headed for the surface for a little open daytime sky, before we take our rest. I think we'll go to Hermione's and my houses."

"No. That's too close to the Goblin preserve for Tendra. I don't want…" King Gobbledegook cut himself off, probably thinking that he was not currently in the strongest of positions. On further reflection, I realized he had stopped talking after receiving a look from his wife.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Three – We Return To Azkaban**

It was a bright early afternoon when my team apparated to front yard of Harry's and my home. It was good to see daylight for the first time in weeks. It was even better to see and hear the rustling of leafy green tree branches and smell the aromas coming from the forest, just a hundred yards away. I had missed all of this. The Quest had been slow torture. We had all endured, but in no way enjoyed it. It had been a pointless, dangerous exercise performed to nonsensical rules designed to cause us progressively greater discomfort, bordering on psychic agony. Now I was seeing my own home again and my heart defrosted.

I led half of the Questers into our house and Hermione hosted the other half. I prepared food and opened bottles of wine, while Harry helped Cho and Viktor, Jaden, Cissy, and Tendra set up in the guest rooms. Aagog had a soft nest in the corner of our sitting room and I brought her half a pound of raw venison.

For the rest of us, I made a vegetable curry, with all of my favorite spices, while Harry heated a large pot of chicken stew, which he and Ron had been working their way through. It was good to sit in actual chairs, at an actual table, inside an actual room with a floor, walls, and ceiling, as I ate my food. It didn't hurt to have a window to look out on summer foliage. The wine was a nice bonus. I don't know why we didn't take wine on the Quest. Perhaps I was afraid that if I dulled my senses at all that I would be killed or would fail my Quest. Even with my little rebellion, I had been a puppet and that was something I couldn't be proud of.

My whole team was becoming increasingly relaxed as they ate in comfort and natural light. We all had a lot of stress to shed, before we could feel like our true selves. We were proud, but we were wounded in spirit. I could tell that, despite the sabotage involved in the instructions for our Quest, that they were proud of what we had accomplished together. They expressed determination to face whatever awaited us in the White Stone cavern on the morrow and to travel on to Durmstrang after we had finished with Azkaban. It was clear that many of my assistants had decided at the start of the Quest that they would stick it out through Durmstrang and decide there, whether to return home or continue the Quest.

They were all suspicious of Narcissa's early departure. Like me, they had seen a threat to all of us in her parting words. Jaden said, "no choice but to trust her? I guess my daughter has learned otherwise. I can't tell you how much she has disappointed me. I don't know whether it's worse to have her revealed as a coward or as a saboteur working for our enemies. I take no responsibility for her. I barely remember birthing her and I had no part in raising her. We are blood, but she is really Tom's child not mine. I feel safer knowing she doesn't know we're going back to Azkaban tomorrow."

Harry reported that Draco had requested and received permission to visit his mother. That struck me as infinitely preferable to a visit by McGonagall. McGonagall always seemed to believe what she did was for the common good, but she was erratic. It was impossible to predict when she would decide that something like helping Narcissa to escape was somehow in that good. One also never knew what she would decide to share with and promptly have leaked by the members of her Sisterhood.

We finished eating. Harry had provided Witch sherry and tiramisu for dessert. We were mellow when we trundled off to our beds. That was very good. It delighted me to see my assistants this relaxed for the first time in weeks.

It was ecstasy to be back in my own soft bed, lying next to Harry. I was starved for sex, really as eager as I had ever been, yet I was feeling a little put off by having occupants in the other three bedrooms. I had never considered how noisy my bed might be. It wasn't so much that I felt self-conscious or embarrassed if everyone in the house correctly interpreted the sounds coming from my bed – I felt bad for Cissy and Jaden. Jaden at least must be feeling as sex-starved as I was, and she didn't have a partner.

My uncertainties about the noisiness of my bed as well as my inhibitions vanished as I heard unmistakable sounds coming from Viktor and Cho's room. Unlike Harry, Viktor wasn't a quiet lover. If Jaden was going to feel bad, she already did. I told Harry that I was ready and practically ravished him. I also cuddled, and slept, and just enjoyed the old familiar feel of Harry's body next to mine in familiar surroundings. I awoke refreshed.

I was about to prepare breakfast, when Bill the auror entered the house. "You are needed," he told all of us. "The aurors, led by me, entered the cavern of the White Stone an hour ago. We were repelled. Slytherin is there, with that God who got away, and at least a dozen Dementors. We caught them by surprise, so we were able to remove the silver wiring between two pairs of stones and unchain the White Stone, before we escaped. Fortunately nobody was killed. We were in and out in less than a minute."

"I'll deal with the Dementors," I promised Bill.

I reached for the Stone, confirmed that I had unfettered access, and asked my Stone to ramp up its white counterpart to full power. If that failed to kill the Dementors in the cavern, it would at least send them fleeing for the surface. I didn't know to what extent Slytherin could feed off of the White Stone, so after letting the Stone pour out full power for five minutes, I completely killed it. I didn't know whether or not Slytherin could power it up again.

At least for a little while he didn't have a working circle. He had wanted that circle for a reason, which must mean that the bare White Stone wasn't of much use to him.

I told everyone what I had done. Bill said it would help for at least a little while.

"Yes," I agreed with him, "a Wizard of Slytherin's skill can certainly repair the circle in less than an hour. We have to move quickly. Let's forget breakfast and assemble immediately on the floor of the pyramid. I'll alert those at Hermione's house to join us."

"Already done," Bill told me.

Dad, Shacklebolt, and twenty aurors were already on the pyramid floor when we arrived. Cho had a plan.

"Viktor and I have experimented with a three-person special weapon. It is a little tricky. It requires more accurate synchronization that the two-person special weapon, but I think it can work if we communicate through the Stone to get the timing right."

Dad said "No. Way too dangerous. You've been told of the dangers of blow-back if the two people launching the special weapon are just a little timid or mis-timed. Cho says the hazards of this new, improved special weapon are much greater. You have to be perfect – three fighters have to be perfect in the total confusion which you will encounter when you apparate into that cavern. I just don't like your odds. I wouldn't ask aurors to do this."

"Less dangerous than fighting guys with curses that just bounce off them," I told Dad. "The special weapon was the only thing that affected Slytherin, and it took two shots to significantly injure him. I think the new trick is probably our only chance to kill him. Perhaps our only chance to prevent him from killing us, even with the quick-in-and-out attack we are planning."

"The Cailleach, Scathach, and I will handle the little God," Brighid promised me. "You focus upon Slytherin. We'll have your back."

We quickly drilled three special weapon teams. Barb joined Harry and me. Jaden joined Ron and Hermione. Bill joined Viktor and Cho. I limited our practice to ten minutes. The plan was simple: let the Goddesses deal with the God, the three special weapons teams immediately set up and fire within half a minute of apparating, everyone else provides cover fire with a stream of curses and Whiz Bangs to distract and pin down anyone else who happens to be present. If there are any Dementors, Cissy instantly ramps the White Stone to full power. Whatever happens, Neville blows his whistle after a minute and we are all back on the pyramid floor.

Bane and Firenze showed up as we were about to launch our attack. I told them that they should fire as many arrows as they could unleash in a minute. Neville had the Gryffindor sword, in case magic failed us.

I felt for an apparation spot. I felt resistance everywhere I tried, but not solid object resistance. There were apparation barriers in place. That was good. It was the sort of thing that would lend a sense of false confidence to our enemies. I knew that the Stone could pull us through whatever apparation barrier had been set up.

I linked into the Stone, telling it exactly what I needed to do. It took less than a minute to have our whole raiding party tied into the Stone. At that instant, I realized that I once again trusted the Stone. If I was wrong, we would soon be dead, merged with solid rock. I was very sure that I was not wrong.

I counted down from ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, Azkaban.

I was holding hands with Harry and Cho, so we instantly knelt in place. I could see Slytherin and two other Wizards working on the circle. I didn't see Dementors, but there must be at least one, because Cissy was ramping up the White Stone.

We were only twenty feet from Slytherin. The God was protecting his back and shouted a warning as soon as we arrived. The Cailleach must have arrived a couple seconds before us, because her boar was already charging the God and she was about to engage him.

I stuck my wand straight out ahead of me, pointed at Slytherin. Harry and Barb touched their wands to the tip of mine. Slytherin had turned to confront us. I linked minds through the Stone. He was raising his wand.

**Ready, three, two, one, 'Ex-ter-me-nate!'. **

The other teams must have also used my timing signal, because three huge green arcs lashed out to devour Slytherin. He vanished and the two Wizards at his side also collapsed.

I led the charge forward to see what was left of our adversaries. We all had our 'Shield' charms at full power.

The God who had been fighting Brighid and the Cailleach abruptly turned to confront us. We all yelled 'Off!' to no effect and it looked as though he was about to strike us down. He raised his arm and pointed at me, but Brighid was upon him and the Cailleach had pressed her staff against his side.

Screaming, he turned from me and dove to where Slytherin had stood. I saw him reach out and cradle what appeared to be a very large white slug. The thing was a foot long and it was squirming slightly.

The God must have thrown some sort of curse at us, because we were all knocked backwards off our feet and onto the hard stone floor. I instinctively threw back my arms to shield the back of my head, as I apparated a couple of feet above the floor. When I struck the floor, it was only a fall of two feet. I jarred my hips and hurt my knuckles, but for once my head was unscathed.

I lay there for a few seconds, collecting my wits and letting some air back into my lungs. Even a two-foot free fall onto stone is a shock to the body. When I was able to sit up, I saw that we were alone in the cavern.

Harry and Barb were still down. I quickly bent over Harry to make sure he was still alive. He clearly was, although he also was nearly unconscious. He was moaning, but he was moving his arms and legs a little, as if trying to sit up, but not being able to do so.

{{Are you alright. Just lie still and gather your strength. Where are you hurt?}}

{[confused] I don't know. I hit my head hard, but I don't think I totally blacked out. The fall knocked the wind out of me. It's an effort to move. I think I"ll be fine.}

Hermione came over to check out Barb, as I continued to minister to Harry. I did an 'Aguamenti' to get some cool water to soak the hem of my robes, so that I could wipe his forehead. His eyes were open and he seemed a little more alert than he had been when I first saw him. It was so frightening to see Harry like this. I decided that I just wanted to get him out of here. I grabbed his hand and apparated us to the Hogwarts infirmary.

Madam Pomphrey rushed over to see who had been newly installed upon one of her cots. She tested Harry's vision. She felt the back of his head. She passed her wand over his head several times.

"I think he'll be fine. Just an ordinary knock on the head, not the sort of injury that you've become famous for. I'm taking no chances. I'll fetch the Rod of Asclepias."

I held Harry's hand and stroked his hair, until Madam Pomphrey returned. I also used my Stone powers to search for any bleeding inside his head. Thankfully, I didn't find any.

Madam Pomphrey applied a cold cloth to Harry's forehead, passed the Rod over him and set to work preparing a potion. I closely watched what she was doing with the potion and decided it could do no harm and might help Harry.

Dad found us in the infirmary. Harry assured Dad that he really was alright. He just needed a little more rest, then he'd be up and about at full capacity. He then dropped a bombshell to Dad.

"That greyish-white slug thing that the God apparated away with - it looked very much like the version of Voldemort that I encountered as a first level. It was a parasite on one of my professors, but it lived. I think that's what happens when you all but kill a Wizard who's well shielded by horcruxes. That is the little part that doesn't die. We have a whole new set of horcruxes to find. There's no way of guessing how many. We should study the black magic books that Slughorn and Jaden studied. They may describe how Slytherin is protected. They may even tell us how he has stayed sort of alive as long as he has and whether that treatment creates weaknesses which we can use to defeat him.

I reached out through the Stone to Hermione.

**I'm in the infirmary with Harry. I think he's okay, but he banged his head fairly hard. Is everyone else okay? I saw you tending to Barb.**

**Barb is fine. Just a little bruised. She's already up and about. Firenze was a little reckless and got a big slash on his flank. He tried to run over a Goblin in the corner. I never even saw the Goblin. He got a good whack with his sword, but Firenze and Bane stomped him. We're taking care of Firenze. Everyone else is fine. **

**The circle repairs were all but finished when we arrived. The last silver wire was attached to one stone and being stretch out toward it's mate when Slytherin was forced to drop it. **

**We're finishing up here and plan to meet in the Great Hall in half an hour. Hopefully Harry will be fit enough to join us. I just want to talk to the head Dementor, before I leave here. He needs to explain to me why the Dementors have sided with Slytherin.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Four – Who's Going To Durmstrang?**

Harry felt able to walk. In fact, he got up from the cot and led me to the infirmary door. Feeling protective, I insisted that he not over-exert himself. I took his hand, as well as Dad's, and apparated all of us to the Great Hall.

We were almost the last to arrive. Most of my assistants and friends were already eating. I could tell that the talk was light chitchat. Nobody was going to put their belly on hold awaiting my arrival, but they seemed not to want to take up serious matters without me. Well, perhaps they were actually waiting for Harry and Dad.

I was surprised when Harry sat down across from Draco, but Harry immediately asked about his meeting with Narcissa.

"I thought she was strong and doing well. I didn't sense a desire to engage in any mischief. I think that you can safely release her, now that you've finished your business at Azkaban. She can stay with me, if she needs a sponsor to be set free. I don't want her back with McGonagall. I think McGonagall continues to exploit her. She certainly brings out and excuses the worst in my mother."

"I'll ask Mrs. Longbottom to have her released into your custody," Dad promised.

Hermione arrived with Cho, Viktor, Firenze, and Bane. Firenze was badly hobbled by his injury. He slowly walked up behind my chair.

"I'd like to meet with you and Hermione in private after this meeting is finished. I don't mind if you bring Harry and Ron and Neville, or even Cho and Viktor, but please leave the others behind. Perhaps it's best to meet at your house. There are too many prying eyes at Hogwarts."

I realized that this was largely an expanded version of Hermione's committee, when Hermione called the meeting to order and summarized the day's events. A little of what she said was new to me.

"I left the Azkaban circle in a mode in which we can operate it, but nobody else can turn it on without our approval. I left the White Stone in the same condition. It's at a third power, which is enough to sustain the few remaining Dementors. There are only six of them left. They took very heavy losses in this battle.

"I spoke to the head Dementor. I wanted to know why, after all the assurances he had given to us, they chose to join the fight on Slytherin's side. I told him that I thought we had fully demonstrated that we could hold our own against them, if they decided to fight us again.

"He explained that the loyalty to Slytherin was a very old one, going back before the Ministry or Hogwarts even existed. The Dementors could not have agreed to obey the Ministry directives had they known that Slytherin still lived. They had assumed he was long dead, but on seeing him alive had decided they had no choice but to honor their ancient agreement to support him.

"He admits that was an error of judgment, born out of his sense of honor. He assures me that he and the remaining Dementors will now be loyal to us and the Ministry. Frankly, I don't trust him. He betrayed us and knows full well that he broke our agreement. If there was an old commitment to Slytherin, then he had the choice of remaining neutral. I hate to think of destroying the last of a type of magical creature, but fear that is our logical approach. When Slytherin regains his strength, he will be back to the Dementors demanding their support. I'm not confident that the head Dementor won't provide that support."

"I agree with your summary. I also don't know exactly what to do with the Dementors, other than being very wary," Dad told Hermione. "Why were the Dementors used in the attack?"

"I think partly as a diversion, but largely to force us to power up the White Stone to kill them. Powering up the White Stone must be very important to the regeneration of Slytherin. He happily sacrificed most of his Dementors to that end."

"I agree," Dad concluded.

"I'm inclined to destroy them," Tony stated. "You have to keep the White Stone on at least a third of its power to keep them fed, and that will inevitably help Slytherin restore his power."

"We can develop a different way to feed them," I suggested. "We had considered putting as many hares on Azkaban as the island's vegetation will support, which I realize is not an awful lot. We dismissed that idea before, but there were a lot more Dementors then."

Tony clearly didn't want to talk about hares. "Moving to a different topic, how can we find out if the Black Stone can be trusted? It's basically a thinking machine which has adopted its own agenda. That makes it a self-aware, senscient thinking machine. That has been one of the great fears of the computer age. There is no controlling where it may decide that its interest lies. I know that most of you have no idea what a computer is, but Hermione does, and I think Harry also does."

I instinctively objected to this, as if my best friend was being maligned. "Harry bought a computer for us. I can do a little with it. My Black Stone does not feel like our computer does. I can talk to it, I've been inside it. It has helped me when I was injured.

"I don't think it sabotaged the Quest on purpose. I wish I knew who made it do it. I will talk to the Stone. I think the best approach may be to become one with the Stone again. If Hermione and I did it together, we might be able to work our way into the part of the Stone that it can't see. I don't think the Stone itself is bad. It needs our help. It is frightened about what has happened to it and is trying to figure things out, but it can't do it by itself. If you had been one with the Stone, you'd be less frightened of it."

"I don't think my government would be happy if I took the risk to become one with your Stone. A Prime Minister with a piece of a thinking stone in his head is hardly going to be trusted. I'd be viewed as insane if I did such a thing," Tony objected. "What if Stewart became one with the Stone and reported back to me?"

"I'd ask how that would be any more reassuring than my just telling you that I've been one with the Stone more than once and think it is trustworthy, but I don't want to force you to tell me that you don't trust me."

"I do trust you. I trust Stewart more. I trust you less with regard to the Stone than I trust you yourself. You are entirely too close to the Stone to be objective. Do you notice how often you refer to it as 'my Stone'? It's not your Stone. You didn't create it, you didn't give it its instructions, and its primary loyalty is not to you. You don't really even understand it. I'm not trying to make you feel less good about yourself. I don't understand or control it either. But I am more than a little afraid of it, and I'm not the one walking around with pieces of it inside my head. Nor am I the one that it almost got killed by turning your Quest into a trap."

"I know all of that. I do worry – both about the Stone and for the Stone. I don't know who else is giving it instructions, but I think its main loyalty is to the Light Guardian and that's where its basic instructions come from. I know somebody else has interfered with it. It might have been Umbridge, but I killed her. It might have been Slytherin, but he is largely disabled for now. Now is the safest time to commune with the Stone."

"It also might have been the God who got away during your last battle. I can't even be sure that our friends across the pond couldn't have built such a thing. You've mentioned Umbridge and Slytherin as possibilities for seizing control of the Stone. Again, please don't be insulted, but I doubt anyone from your community is technically smart enough to seize control of something as complex and powerful as the Stone."

Actually, I did feel a bit insulted, but chose to explain things calmly to Tony. "It doesn't need to be somebody who is as smart as your scientists. It can be like Slytherin controlling the Dementors. He can take them over because something in their past leads them to believe that they have no choice but to obey him. He needs no great understanding of them to do that. If there were somebody whom the Stone believed it was required to obey, they wouldn't need to be smarter than the Stone or to understand how it worked to force it to obey. They'd just have to say 'here I am and this is what I want you to do'.

"I don't understand how the Stone works. I just think thoughts to it, and usually it has done what I've asked it to do. That doesn't make me smarter than all the others, like you, whom the Stone won't accept requests from. It just means that the Stone knows that I'm the Mother of the Future, and at some time long ago it was taught that it must listen to the Mother. I don't know why that would be so, but it appears that it is. It's even possible that when the Light Guardian spoke to us, it also spoke to the Stone and told it that I was a friend."

"I understand that, Ginny, but I'm not talking about the normal operation of the Stone. I'm talking about someone who understands the Stone well enough to make it malfunction in a way that suits the purposes of that unknown someone. That someone would have to tamper with the Stone at a basic level that simply requires more technical skills than anyone in your community possesses. I'm not explaining this at all well, because I really don't understand it myself. My community owns very complex computers. It also contains bad actors who sometimes take over these computers to cause mischief. I don't begin to understand how they do that, I just know that they can. Perhaps Hermione can give you a better explanation later."

Hermione took this as her cue to rejoin the conversation.

"The Wizarding and Goblin communities once had a far greater understanding of magical technology that they do today. They built extremely complex devices. Well, at least some magical creatures built them, we think it was the Goblins or us. Perhaps they even built the Black Stone, although that's old enough that I suppose it would have to have been the Goblins who built it. Or perhaps the Elves or even the Leprechauns – they seem to have been very powerful back in the day. We think the Elves built at least portions of the pyramid.

"Sorry, I got lost a bit there. It's a thought I need to follow up. My point is that remnants of that magical technology still exist. Look at the monolith that we gave you to prevent anyone from apparating into your office without permission – that is smaller but every bit as complex as the Black Stone. I'm quite sure, by the way, that your experts have had a very close look at it. It is important that you tell us what you've learned about the monolith. That knowledge likely also applies to the Stone. There are Wizards who can control the monolith on a somewhat basic level. I'm learning a bit of that from Ellie. She understands it quite well.

We are able to use a lot of ancient magical technology that we can't recreate and don't really understand. As a student, I was lent a device which allowed me to go as much as two hours back in time. I didn't understand a bit of it, but I could make it do what I wanted it to do. It was just a tool, and I had been shown how to operate it. That's all I needed to know. That tool is now lost and we can't replace it."

I could tell that this left Tony unsatisfied, but he chose to change the topic. Perhaps Hermione had really worried him with her talk of going back in time. He recovered, and tried to hide his reaction by once again talking at us. "I'm sorry that I sidetracked us all. Just one last point, before I leave that topic – if one intends to tamper with a computer, one needs an access point to a computer that isn't connected to, umm let me just say to other computers. By that logic, you should know that those who have become one with the Stone would be in the perfect position to tamper with the Stone. That is something for Ginny to thing about.

"We came here to discuss the wisdom of continuing the Quest. You know that the next stop is Durmstrang, so you don't need the Stone's assistance to go at least that far. That gives us time to assess the reliability of the Stone. The current question is whether or not you should go to Durmstrang and what, if any, rules you should follow in doing so. That clearly includes whom you should take with you. Since the version of the rules you were given prohibit your sitting here in this room, and talking face-to-face with the rest of us, your original Quest has been abandoned.

"You seem free to set your own rules, choose your own destinations, treat those you find there how you deem appropriate, and complete repair tasks of your choosing. This may or may not count as an actual Quest. I don't know who among us is empowered to answer that question.

"Lest I forget – before you go to Durmstrang, and I'm quite sure that you've already decided to go there, I must insist that you do whatever is necessary to the circle you built under Stonehenge to make that circle absolutely safe for the tourists."

"It's safe now. The circle we built is not operating. I'll think what action we should take to make it harder for someone to reactivate it. Whoever doesn't go on to Durmstrang can take care of that.

"Yes, I do intend to go to Durmstrang, with as much of my team as is willing to go with me. Yes, there are others I'd like to add to the team. And, yes, I realize that we must decide if we are just a group from Britain traveling to Durmstrang to help the German Wizards with their circle, or if we are a Quest team. If we are a Quest team, then I guess we need a new set of rules. They will have to be rules which are agreeable to the Quest team. I know that I am going to add Professor Celine to the team, assuming she is still willing to participate, despite everything that has happened."

"I know that my advice may not be as welcome as it once was," Firenze apologized, "but I request that we suspend this meeting so that Cotto, King Gobbledegook, former King Goblanze and I can discuss possible rules with Hermione and Ginny. We'll return to this group to present our recommendations."

"That is acceptable. We'll wait here for you and chat among ourselves. Some of the rest of us may have strong views regarding the path forward for Ginny's team," Dad excused us. I think he was tired of how much I and especially Tony had been monopolizing the discussion. I was sensing cooperation and respect, but also more than a little competitiveness and mutual irritation between Tony and Dad.

I suggested to Firenze that we meet at our house. As Firenze collected the others, I observed Dad in a very intense conversation with Tony and Ellie.

I used a Stone-assist to apparate us all to our back yard. It was pleasant to be outdoors in the shade of the trees, so I just mouthed 'Accio blankets' and suggested that we lounge on the grass while we discussed Firenze's proposal. Harry fetched refreshments.

Firenze was sitting very gingerly. "Your flank is really sore, isn't it?" I asked him. "Would you like me to teach you a pain-relieving spell?"

He would and I did. He seemed quite a bit more comfortable. "You took a silly chance during the fight in the cavern. You were supposed to just fire arrows. Did you want to die?"

"No, I wanted to live, but felt the need to redeem myself. I failed you and the Light Guardian by not thinking as clearly as I am able to. I shamed myself and my herd. I fired arrows, but the Goblin blocked them. I saw a chance to charge him and I took it. I didn't think he could kill me before I got him. This is just pain. I will survive it. It serves to remind me of my error and that I must do better. I want you to trust me, and not think I'm trying to take over your Quest as the stern father."

"I trust you. I said that when I was frustrated and angry at you and Cotto. You were both very stubborn, but you meant well. I can't hold that against you. You and Cotto are still my trusted friends. I will always be willing to seriously consider your advice. I won't ignore my own instincts, but I will carefully weigh whatever you tell me."

"Thank you. I do have advice for you. You must go to Durmstrang, and you must do so quickly. With relaxed rules, Adrienne Celine can help you. There is no point in sticking to the rules that have already been abandoned: you may visit the surface, you may meet with your Keepers and others, you may return home for breaks, and you may change the members of your team, as I did when I added Jaden. All of that has already happened, so if that forfeits your Quest, it is already forfeited. The other rules should stand."

"Other than no more chocolate, diamonds, or fire, that's just about all of the rules gone. What's left?"

"After Durmstrang, your future destinations still come from the Stone. The rules still change after Durmstrang. At that point it is still succeed or die – perhaps it is just succeed or face disgrace, the death of the spirit."

"Death or disgrace – that's quite a difference," Hermione told him.

"It is, but to ones as proud as yourselves, I'm not sure which you would rather choose. You'll learn the final rules after Durmstrang. You may decide at that time. Today's decision is just to move forward to Durmstrang."

"That's true, but I got the impression that you wanted to tell me a lot more than this," I told Firenze. "What is it?"

"You must become one with the Stone, before you travel decide whether to travel beyond Durmstrang. You and Hermione must travel to BeyondWorld and then into the Stone. The sooner that is done the better, so you must complete the Durmstrang assignment speedily.

"I fear that your friend Tony is becoming more distrustful and that he will destroy the Stone. That would be very bad. You must take Tony with you when you visit BeyondWorld and the Stone. Tony says he will trust what Stewart reports, but he won't. His fear has become too great."

Cotto supported everything that Firenze had told me. King Gobbledegook just said, "it really is important that you continue the Quest. I am very sure that your Quest is not now forfeit. I hope that you are still willing to travel with my Tendra."

I was more than willing for Tendra to remain on the Quest. When we returned to the Great Hall, I learned that the other members of the Quest Team had found Professor Celine and had brought her up to date on everything. They were all willing to go to Durmstrang. That was a great relief to me.

I was surprised when Little Ba'al decided to join us. I was unsure how to respond to his offer, since he was obviously male and it had been stressed to me that the Quest was females only.

Cotto noted my confusion and quickly spoke up. "The rules do not apply to Gods and Goddesses. Any God who wishes to travel with you is free to do so."

So, Little Ba'al was coming with us.

The larger group thought that we should leave within the day. So did I. I spent the day and especially the night with Harry, leaving the packing to the others.

Cho had visited the Durmstrang circle several times. She apparated us there.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Five – Durmstrang**

We were alone with the circle inside the Durmstrang cavern. We had held both our nearest neighbors' hands and our wands as Cho apparated us. I think we all expected to arrive and immediately have to start fighting. Viktor had stocked the cavern ahead of our arrival and told us that all looked well, but our past experiences caused apprehension.

After realizing that we weren't in any danger, my next observation was that this cavern was absolutely huge. It was over twice the area of the Sacred Cavern with a taller ceiling. The circle itself wasn't all that much larger than the one in the Sacred Cavern, leaving both more open space and more stone seats.

As I approached the circle, my next observation was that while the circle took up no more area than the one in the Sacred Cavern, the stones were larger and the spaces between them were smaller. The lodestone in the center of the circle was simply enormous – twice as large in every dimension as the largest one I had previously seen.

As I looked more closely at the outer circle, I realized that it was not made of basalt stones – it wasn't made of stone at all. These were discolored salt pillars. The builders of this circle had been very certain that its cavern would never flood.

I observed that working on the inner circle, which I identified as being made of calcite crystals, would be cramped. The crystals were only eighteen inches apart, other than a single wide gap and the nearest crystals were only two feet from the corners of the lodestone. This was a very different design.

I surveyed the cavern as a whole. In addition to its sheer size, what stood out was all of the fine work which had been done. The walls were smooth and polished. The ceiling appeared to be of the same finish. The floor was totally flat and quite smooth, but not polished, making it non-slippery to walk on. The lighting was quite bright, uniform, and seemed to come from every surface, with no identifiable source. It had taken a lot of work to build this cavern.

"Impressive, isn't it," Cho commented. "This is the major circle for continental Europe and it was built both to impress and to power magic over a very large region, compared to Britain. There is a small circle in the Ural Mountains, but nothing else between here and there. The Paris circle is much smaller than this one. Shall I show you our Reception Hall? It is also larger and somewhat grander than your own. I know it sounds like I'm both bragging and have given up my Britishness, but everyone in the German and Eastern Wizarding communities is justifiably proud of what we have here. It is also a source of great pride to the European Goblins."

Their Reception Hall was as wide and as high as our own, but twice as long. It had the same smooth, polished finish to the stone as I had seen in the cavern housing Durmstrang's circle. It also had six central support pillars, four in the half we were standing in, including two closely-spaced pillars almost in the center of this half and two in the other half. It struck me that the other half was the add-on. It was more perfectly rectangular, unlike any of the Goblin caverns I had visited.

"This is the only grand cavern that was partly built by Wizards," Cho told me. "It was expanded as an example of the greatness of Gunter Gran Montine and continental wizards. This cavern and Durmstrang Academy itself served as the dual fortresses from which he administered his empire. The Reception Hall is only two miles from Durmstang Academy. Obviously the twin fortresses also guarded the circle. For decades Durmstrang was the only circle which Goblins were not permitted to enter. Our circle is three times as powerful as the Paris circle, so if you want to control the continental Wizarding world, you must hold this circle and keep it operating smoothly.

"The circle operates reasonably well after the repairs which Viktor and the Goblins made. I helped in the repairs. We can maintain about three-quarters power, without risking a break-down."

So, now I knew the magical engineering portion of our Durmstrang mission. It would give us something to occupy our minds, while we waited for Odin or other Gods to make their way to us. I had noticed during my first trip to Durmstrang Academy that magical power wasn't quite as strong in Germany as I was used to in Britain. With the improvements we and the Light Guardian had made to the circles in London and the Sacred Cavern and the not fully repaired damage that Ruppasta had done to the Durmstrang circle, we had a fair amount of effort ahead of us to get Germany up to speed. That was the understandable part of my Quest – fix and restart the circles so that magic was strong enough that anyone with the possibility to be magical would become so and to stabilize the magic sufficiently that a dark Wizard couldn't gather strength from the chaos in the magical fields. With Slytherin on the loose, this seemed more important than ever.

Scathach and Little Ba'al were standing next to me, as Cho finished my tour of the Reception Hall. I told Cho that although her Reception Hall was very lavish and had quite comfortable seating and actual tables dotted strategically around the room, that it struck me as sterile, compared to our Reception Hall.

"Remember, this was a working headquarters for both Grindelwald and Gran Montine. They had their propaganda on the walls. That's all been trashed. We don't have your practice of posting prophecies. Perhaps that's because it's just us and the Goblins and the Goblins have only returned in the past four decades. The historic decoration is limited to those four statues in the middle of the room. They've been culled from a group of over two dozen statues which graced this hall at one time or another and then did not appeal to later leaders. Many of those statues were destroyed as a final blow against those depicted in stone.

"Let me show you who is left. The current leaders are always represented, so here is my Viktor and here is your King Gobbledegook. The other two statues are ancient – the only two to have survived the changes in our politics. Here is Rompoc The Great. He was the Goblin King, when the Durmstrang Circle was first activated. At the time there were nearly forty thousand Goblins in what is now roughly Germany and Austria. Rompoc lived over six thousand years ago.

"This other fellow is Jan Jusek. He was the first to lead an organized Wizarding community it what is now roughly Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia. That was almost thirty-five hundred years ago. Many of the laws that he established remain the foundation of our legal system. Back then, there were nearly fifty thousand Witches and Wizards in that area. They were very prosperous and could well hold their own against non-magical humans. Their problem was the Giant community, of which there were about a thousand members. All of our communities have shrunk so severely. It saddens me."

Little Ba'al's response was "I need a bigger circle and a nice room like this."

"The circle is something to work toward," his mother told him. "The whole city of Petra is your Reception Hall."

"Yes, Petra is far more beautiful than this," Little Ba'al told his mother.

I didn't know quite what to think. Surely Little Ba'al knew that I was close enough to overhear that exchange. I was a little sorry that I had gone out my way to fix his circle and save his ass. The guy had a serious case of envy and I wasn't sure where it would take him. I vowed to keep an eye on him to make sure he was really traveling with us in order to help us.

I told Cho that we should examine the circle. We had to decide what supplies we needed to repair and improve it.

"Of course we should go back," Cho agreed. "I couldn't help showing off a little. I also wanted to shock you with the instant sight of our Reception Hall. I'm sure it made an impression upon you, so tell me: could this have been the Reception Hall whose destruction you witnessed in Professor Trelawney's globe?"

"I was instantly struck by the similarities to that vision," I admitted. The design of the original parts is similar. I saw a support column in the vision and a bit of the floor and a far wall and a sea of people, when I looked in the globe. The support column matches. The floor and ceiling also seem closer to the image here than in the Sacred Cavern Reception Hall. It's the absence of paintings on the far wall. I think the reflections of the mirrored wall here also fits better. Then it struck me that the floor was wrong – overly smooth. Really, the vision equally fits either room and exactly fits neither."

"Thank you. I plan to subject Hermione to the same test."

As we approached the arch leading to the tunnel into the cavern of the circle, I begged Cho "please let me test my ring, before you open the door."

I placed the Light Guardian Keeper ring which I had made against the starburst symbol. The door immediately started to slide into the floor. I wasn't surprised. Mother of the Future is not a strictly British title.

I observed the other symbols on the panel next to the door. There was a stick figure, which might represent Witches and Wizards. Below this was a symbol I didn't recognize at all: an oval with an '=' sign in the center.

To my question 'what's this?', Cho replied that it was the ancient sign of Goblin Kings.

There were no other symbols on the panel.

Of course Hermione had already closely observed the circle. She, Jaden, and Cissy were studying it intently when we re-entered the cavern.

"There's a problem with the design of the circle," Hermione told us. "Salt works, but it doesn't work well and it has to be perfectly dry, which the salt pillars in this circle aren't. The silver lattice work has places where the lines of magical force are bunched and twisted, especially across the wide gap in each circle. It's not the most efficient design. The biggest problem is this calcite."

She walked up at pointed at the culprit. "It has a hairline crack right down its center. I'm surprised it hasn't exploded or at least split in two. Push the circle close to full power and it definitely will split. It needs to be completely replaced. The lodestone is plenty big. It's got six tourmalines and a very large central diamond on top. One of the tourmalines isn't nearly of the quality of the other five and that weakens the other five. A single course of silver was strung around them to fix the problem, but it really isn't doing enough. They need a replacement tourmaline. There also is a little lost efficiency and chaos in the magical lines, because the quartz cylinder in the ceiling has somehow lost its polish and has a slight nick.

"Perhaps this is all subtle damage caused by Ruppasta. The good news is that there is plenty of space to install a third ring of basalt, outside the circle of salt pillars. I think that should add a little more power and a lot more stability."

"You have been busy," I congratulated her. "Now Cho wants to show you the Reception Hall."

As Cho and Hermione departed, I searched for Tendra. I wanted to see whether or not she recognized the purported symbol of ancient Goblin kings. I also wanted to know if she had any unique Goblin knowledge of salt pillars as part of magical circles.

Tendra and Aagog were busily unpacking and organizing our stuff, while chatting with Mafalda.

"I'm sorry not to be working harder," Mafalda apologized. "I'm old and my purpose here really has to do with meeting Odin. I've been thinking how I should approach him. I need to establish your credentials so that he treats you with the appropriate respect, but not so much so that he is likely to turn his wrath upon you, rather than me. I have a very strong feeling that I won't be going beyond Durmstrang. Don't feel sad. This is the culmination of my life and of my duties.

"I need a favor from you. I have been remiss and not chosen or trained my replacement. You've introduced me to two perfectly sound replacements, but I've foolishly not acted before now. I've just been telling Tendra and Aagog that I just half-nodded off and had a half-waking vision. Our mission at Durmstrang will require that I travel to BeyondWorld to negotiate with the Valkyries. I shan't be returning from there. I need to have you summon Luna and Ostara, so that I can speak to them face-to-face. My vision told me that it is vital for them to meet Odin and the Valkyrie."

"Of course," I told her, before summoning Fawkes from his perch atop the rearmost stone bench.

I reached to Harry and told him that I needed him to convince Luna and Ostara to join us at Durmstrang. I also needed him to discuss the wisdom of this with Cotto and Firenze. I stressed that a replacement for Mafalda was needed and that the timing was urgent.

I gathered up Aagog and Tendra and trotted them off to the Reception Hall and the control symbols beside the entrance to the cavern we were in.

"Goblins did not make this cavern," Tendra told me. "The proportions are wrong."

I told her that Wizards had doubled the size of the room. She walked around the perimeter of the room and then along the center line, closely examining each support column and statue. She agreed with me that the far end of the room was the part built by Wizards. She did not linger in this section.

She meticulously re-examined everything in the Goblin section, getting down on hands and knees to examine the floor around the end wall. She used magic to scour dust from the floor. She spat upon it and she scrubbed with the hem of her robes. "There was stone throne right here for the Goblin king," she told me. "That is statue of him over there," she pointed to the statue of Rompoc the Great.

Tendra led us to the third support column on the Goblin side of the room and jerked her thumb at it, "This not belong here. Cavern should only have three columns."

"Perhaps a fourth was added when the room was enlarged," I hypothesized.

"No, that would be this column," she pointed at the fourth column. "But this one always be here," she told me as she walked up to the fourth column.

I examined the four columns in detail. I agreed with Tendra that there was one column too many and that the third looked a little different than the other two.

As Tendra and I talked, Aagog climbed the third column. She could climb really fast. I sensed her climbing past me and by the time I finished my sentence and looked up, she was nearly at the top. Tendra and I stared up at Aagog as she slowly walked around the top of the column. She then walked across the ceiling to closely examine the tops of the other five columns in this big room. I thought she'd scurry right down the sixth column and come back to report to us, but she went to the exact center of the ceiling, spun a strong thread, and dropped half-way to the floor. She then swung in a wider and wider arc, lowering herself as she went. After swinging for several minutes, she gently alighted on the far side wall of the Reception Hall, before climbing down the wall and scurrying across the floor to us.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. That was great fun. My family's cave hasn't been big enough for me to do that since I was little. This column is different." She was standing next to the column that Tendra said shouldn't be there. "It doesn't connect with ceiling."

Hermione and Cho had just joined us and were surprised to hear that. "Normally I'd say wait to examine this column, until we've fixed the circle and met with Odin, but I don't like doing all that, while we're probably sitting next to a giant bomb," Hermione told us. "I think we need to tie into the Stone and examine this column right now. It's got a secret and we have to learn what it is."

"I don't think the secret is a bomb," Cho disagreed. "This column may not be genuine, but it's been here a very long time. I don't think Wizards used Muggle bombs, prior to your Lord Montaigne. I'm not sure that even Muggles used bombs way back when this column must have been put in place. There is a painting in the school's library of Gunter Gran Montine having himself crowned in this Hall. The painting shows this column."

"All the more reason to investigate immediately," I told Cho. "Let's start by using the viewers, before we tie into the Stone.

Jaden brought the viewers and Cho doused the lights to a feeble background glow, which left us just able to see our own hands two feet in front of our eyes. The column in question was a bright pink. I saw a clear, vertical line of rosy-pink, which blossomed outward from the top of the column.

"I have a theory," Hermione told us. "Let's lower the power of the circle and see how that effects this column."

Cho raised the lights and headed off to the circle. As Hermione and I stared through our viewers, the glow from the column decreased by more than half and then burgeoned back to full power.

"As I thought, this seems like some sort of antenna linked to the circle. I'll bet if we look at the ceiling above the column, we'll find an embedded quartz cylinder. I'd like to observe this from the surface. There should be two intense sources of magical energy emerging from the ground almost two hundred feet apart," Hermione said very quickly, in obvious excitement.

Cho returned to tell us, "I'm guessing you saw what you expected to see."

As we both nodded yes, Cho decided "I have to contact Viktor, before we do anything. Messing with this column could seriously affect magic throughout greater Germany. I don't know what's best – should I contact him through the Stone, or use my cellphone, or just apparate back to Durmstrang Academy?"

Not wanting too many people to know what we had discovered and feeling that if there were rigid Quest rules that we had already shattered them, I suggested that Cho apparate to Viktor. "I'm even willing to break the possible rule of Viktor having direct contact with us. This is important enough that you can bring him back with you. We'll be in the circle cavern. I'll contact Harry and ask that he discuss this with Cotto and Firenze."

As soon as we returned to the circle cavern, I grabbed Fawkes and reached out for Harry. Luckily, he was with Luna, Ostara, Neville, Cotto, Firenze, Dad, Mom, and surprisingly Viktor. I explained our situation, also relaying observations and theories from Hermione, Jaden, and Mafalda. Cissy had perched herself at my right elbow, listening intently to the back-and-forth between mainly Hermione and me.

Harry told me that Mom had apparated to Durmstrang to bring back Viktor, so that he could apparate both Luna and Ostara to his Reception Hall. Both Cotto and Firenze agreed that this was both necessary and likely permissible under current Quest rules. Cotto said that Cho meeting with Viktor meant she had forfeited her Quest participation, but Firenze said that was being awfully rigid and since I and everyone else had met with a lot of people while at Hogwarts, that there was no reason to single out Cho. If Cho was bust, we were all bust and it was best to simply do what must be done to resolve our situation in the Reception Hall. We might as well all simply visit with Viktor and discuss what needed to be discussed. We had all met Viktor at Hogwarts. Cotto was outvoted.

Viktor wanted just a few more minutes of rest and another chocolate bar, before joining us. He had been practicing use of the special weapon after short, quick apparations. He had come to Hogwarts as soon as Mom had summoned him, but he was feeling the effects of too much expenditure of magical power.

Harry finally told me {Viktor, Luna, and Ostara should now be in the Reception Hall.}

I broke my link with Harry and led the charge into the Reception Hall, leaving Jaden and Cissy to guard the circle. Cho had also returned.

After viewing the phony column through the viewer as we raised and lowered the power of the circle and doing a quick scan of the other five columns, Viktor concluded: "There is definitely a smaller column inside this phony column which is connected to our circle. I don't know who put it there or why it is hidden, but it seems quite powerful. To destroy it is likely to greatly reduce magic on the surface, but I think we must see what it is. I suggest that we carefully destroy outer shell."

It was Adrienne time. She led her 'class' in visualizing where the inner active core of the column was and Witch sculpting away stone to just short of that point. That required Cissy, Jaden, Mafalda, Luna, Ostara, Tendra, and Adrienne to each visualize the column through one of the viewers as Cho raised and lowered the power of the circle. This took so much time that Harry whispered me demanding to know what was happening. I told him to be patient.

Adrienne insisted that she would remove the first piece and that nobody else would do any sculpting until we had determined what was at the bottom of the hole she had made and what her piece of faux column was made of.

Adrienne focused and produced a hole six inches deep by three inches wide. That wasn't much, compared to the column itself, which was a good four feet wide.

I knelt down to examine the piece which Adrienne had extracted. It wasn't really quite stone. I broke off a piece and handed it to Hermione. She crumbled it in her hand.

"Some sort of plaster or cement, with the outer surface dirtied to make it look more like stone. It's hard enough to stand up to bumps, if you don't gouge out a piece, as Adrienne did, but it is a lot more brittle and friable than real stone. I think it's also magicked to look like stone."

Looking at the hole that Adrienne had made in the column, I could tell that she hadn't reached the core. I started working to enlarge the hole. I removed a few pieces and then was replaced by the next person, then the next, and the next, until we had carved away a six inch to slightly deeper foot-high peeling all the way around the column. Each person had increased the depth slightly, so that we ended up eight inches deep but still hadn't reached the core, when we completed our circuit around the column.

We started to peel away another foot-high layer right before our first layer, starting at eight inches deep. When we reached nine inches, a little piece of the plaster stuff spalled off the bottom of the hole, revealing white stone beneath.

Viktor soon discovered that if we removed the plaster to within a half inch of the stone, a few soft whacks with a metal hammer shattered the rest of it. Without the need to closely control the depth, we moved much faster. Still, we needed first ladders and then a harness to suspend two workers from the ceiling, in order to finish the job.

We were left with a perfectly cylindrical column of highly polished, pure white stone, which looked like a smaller version of the White Stone beneath Azkaban.

"That's very strange," Hermione commented. "Why would there be a sister to our White Stone in Germany. Germany had no Centaurs, so there was no need to split Centaur souls and kill of their bad side against a highly magical White Stone. I wonder what it's purpose was originally supposed to be and how old it is."

"There is a more active core, quite narrow, inside the white stone," Viktor commented as he stared through a viewer. He apparated to the top of the stone and somehow hung on there, grabbing both the top of the stone and part of a dangling harness. He yelled down to us: "There is a gap of six inches from the top of the stone to the ceiling. There is a two-inch diameter quartz cylinder in the ceiling and a two-inch diameter silver rod inside the Stone."

Viktor's comment caused me to kneel and closely examine the point where the white stone joined the floor of the cavern. I used my wand to clear away dirt and debris. There was a thin silver seal between floor and cylinder. The cylinder was at least inserted and silver-glued into the floor. I suspected that like my Black Stone, that it went quite deep. I suspected a chamber beneath the floor of the Reception Hall, just as there was beneath the floor of the Black Stone's pyramid.

When I explained my theory, Viktor called it 'a mystery for another day', saying the first priority was to check out the magical force on the surface, right above our heads.

"And what is right above our heads?" I asked Viktor.

"A very old Church, now nominally Lutheran, but with a lot of Wizard attendees. The church is almost a thousand years old, although it was bombed out and rebuilt. Legend says the church was originally built at the most active pagan site in Germany. There are a lot of local stories about that church. Over the centuries, it is reported that a number of miracles have occurred there."

"And now you know why," I told him.

Viktor left us, promising to investigate the church and to apparate to Hogwarts to tell Harry what he discovered. I whispered an update to Harry. Harry was upset that I hadn't whispered to him as soon as we penetrated the plaster to the white stone. I told him that we really didn't know anything of significance at that point. Harry admitted that was true, but that Tony and my Dad had been pestering him for information.

Viktor delivered a whole lot of silver to the Reception Hall. I planned to use most of it to cement my outer ring of basalts in place. Ron and Harry organized a team to quarry the basalts, while my team gouged the necessary ring trough into the floor. As Harry and Ron delivered stones to the Reception Hall, my team Witch sculpted a precise hole into the bottom of the trough for each stone, making it extra secure with a slight seal of silver. We installed a dozen basalts in all.

Hermione and I led the group in connecting the basalts with the same intricate silver lace design which the Light Guardian had used in the Sacred Cavern. I knew this to be a very efficient design and one that did not lavishly consume silver. We melted enough silver to fill the trough to a depth of three inches. That was really a lot of silver. We were exhausted from the amount of energy we expended toting and melting all the silver bars and then painstakingly removing the bubbles and smoothing the surface as the silver cooled.

I was delighted to have this task completed, but more than a little disappointed that Odin had yet to make an appearance. I had no excuse not to immediately move ahead with the next step in our repairs. Hermione has calculated that if we turned on our basalt ring, we could de-power the salt ring and not reduce the total output from the circle.

Hermione thought the correct approach was to slowly bake the salt pillars to dry them out and try to repair any cracks. We couldn't actually melt the salt, or the pillars would slump. We couldn't heat too fast, or they would crack. It had to be just right, which meant it had to be as tedious as you could possibly imagine. Even with the painstaking care we lavished upon those eight pillars, one of them slumped and another shattered, forcing us to remake two pillars from molten salt.

We Witch sculpted a trough in the floor to serve as a mold. It was extra deep, so that we could Witch sculpt salt from the finished flat surface of what we molded to match the shape of the other pillars. We lined the mold with silver, so that we could get the salt out by melting the silver. It was a tough process. We had to make ten castings to get two which were satisfactory, actually to get three, we unbelievably destroyed one of our good castings when Jaden made a Witch sculpting error. I was thankful that the guilty party was Jaden rather than Cissy. I don't think Cissy would have taken such a failure well. Jaden apologized profusely, but quickly shrugged it off and helped us manufacture a replacement.

We got our replacement salt pillars in place, had them silvered in place, and were at the trickiest stage of installing the connecting silver lattice, when Odin finally made an appearance, interrupting our work at this critical point. Actually, we were all so focused upon what we were doing that Odin caught us totally by surprised and scared the crap out of me. Fortunately he did not come firing curses, or we would all be dead.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Six – Odin**

"Please finish what you were doing. This is my circle and I wish it to work properly. It is the source of my strength." These were the first words that Odin spoke to us. He then wandered off to the rear of the cavern to chat with Mafalda, while the rest of us finished our work.

I was stunned, but I refocused my assistant's attention upon completing our task. Between finishing the installation of the silver mesh, re-energizing the ring of salt pillars, and then checking everything out with the viewers, we spent over two hours, before I was able to go to the rear of the cavern to meet Odin. In all that time I had been unable to decide what I should or even what I wanted to say. I hoped that Hermione was less inept than I obviously was.

I decided that in dealing with a major God that politeness was a necessary virtue. Hermione and I stood in silence for ten minutes, while Odin finished his chat with Mafalda.

"I'd like to introduce my friends Ginny and Hermione Weasley," Mafalda told Odin. "Ginny is the current Mother of the Future and Hermione is her muse. They have both met the Light Guardian. They, really all of us – you see I'm one of their assistants – and the others are associates we picked up along the way, are at the fourth stop on this Quest. We are quite unsure of the proper rules and at a loss where to go from here. I hope that we can all be of help to each other. There is also that other, special issue we spoke of."

"I am Odin," he offered a hand, which we shook. "Welcome to the outer reaches of my kingdoms. If you assist me, I am required to help you on your Quest. This is all part of our mutual covenant with the Light Guardian. Many guess at what is required for a Quest. They do not know. You are not to blame for their ignorance and foolishness. I will tell you what you must know, what you must do, and how you must do it. You are not Goddesses, but you are the representatives of the Light Guardian and of your peoples, so I must give you suitable respect. I wish to respect you, but you must be deserving.

"I am always seeking great and brave warriors. I have many duties and even more interests, but the two things which consume me are justice and preparation for Ragnarok. I can see inside of you and you look like you have the spirit of a warrior." He pointed at me as he said that.

"Here is one of my problems. Your people just fought mighty battles, but my Valkyrie did not recruit any spirit warriors for me. BeyondWorld is not for mighty and righteous warriors, but that is where they have gone. I saved seats for them at Valhalla, but they did not come. Sigrun has failed me, yet again. She was most loyal, but now ignores my needs. She ignores all of our needs. I do not ready my forces for Ragnarok merely to sustain my own interests. The survival of all of you and of your very world depends upon my success. For that, I need more warrior spirits. I see that the two of you have already fought and won a spirit war. This is good."

I wasn't sure what I should say, but since I had to say something, I just pressed ahead into the meat of what I promised Sigrun that I would discuss. "Thank you. Yes, we defeated the Dementors. We caught them by surprise, then we used the unchained White Stone against them.

"We met Sigrun on BeyondWorld. She said that she has tried to contact you, but hasn't received a reply. She says that her path to our world has been blocked."

"That's what happens when you get lured to BeyondWorld, isn't it? She and her Valkyrie aren't supposed to be in BeyondWorld. She didn't tell me she was going and she certainly went without my permission. You are being very polite – it is clear that she thinks I am deliberately ignoring her and blocking her return to both your world and my world. I am not. It is another force which does that. Perhaps your mission is to return Sigrun to me. Much depends upon her return.

"Shall we talk of your Quest? We can begin with what you know, what you think you know, and what questions you have for me."

I told him about the instructions given to me by Cotto and Firenze. I told him of our unfortunate initial Quest stops, the emergence of Salazar Slytherin, our renewed conquest of the Dementors, the battle of Petra, and the Black Stone's admission that it was being manipulated and did not have full control of itself. I ended by telling him that Cotto and Firenze had fashioned their rules based upon the legends of their peoples as well as suggestions from the Black Stone.

That last part piqued Odin's interest. "A ballad, you say. I love poems of every sort. I am an expert at their interpretation. Please recite it for me."

I explained that the ballad, which apparently rhymed in ancient Goblinspeak, had been translated for me, even though I speak Goblinspeak. Odin looked impatient. I thought it best to just recite the ballad for him.

"_They shall fight for our future in the dark recesses of this world, where power hides_

_They shall joust with the mighty Gods and Goddesses, for what is our right as magical peoples_

_They shall suffer and strive on our behalf, doing what we are unable to do for ourselves_

_They will be young and very old, friend and foe alike, gifted with wisdom or gifted with strength and courage_

_Some will enter this fight knowing that they will not return to live upon the face of our world_

_They will understand what needs to be done and will do it without instruction or lead_

_They will perfect the magic and will share it with all who choose to live in peace with their fellow thinking creatures_

_They will support all the Gods and Goddesses who swear allegiance to our most basic Covenant_

_They will vanquish those Gods and Goddesses who cannot bring themselves to dwell in peace with us_

_Witches will boldly stride where even the bravest Wizard or Goblin is too fearful to go_

_Their male companions will support them as best they can, in those places where they are allowed to go_

_The other magical peoples will assist them on their Quest, as the Mother of the Future and her Muse lead the Quest_

_They venture into the dark voids beneath the earth, where even the fiercest warrior dare not go_

_Fighting with magic and without, but relying upon their wit and skills of persuasion_

_These intrepid Questers will fight for us all, seeking neither glory nor personal gain_

_If they succeed, they will return to make this world a far better place and banish the forces of dark_

_Purest magic shall prevail everywhere and all creatures who think may live in peaceful harmony_

_These Questers have our deepest blessing as they suffer under the most rigid rules to do what must be done_

_We would relieve their suffering, but we dare not, for this is the province of the greatest Gods and Goddesses_

_They must determine if all who Quest are sufficiently noble for the cause and not selfish opportunists_

_The inadequate and the mean of spirit shall surely perish upon this path and you shall know them by their failure_

_The true and pure of spirit shall prevail and will gladly be given a reward they did not seek_

_But first, they must prove themselves worthy, obedient, and willing to sacrifice all they hold dear for the benefit of others_

_Such is the spirit of a true Mother and Muse and thus is the price for entry to the new golden age"_

"Most interesting. That is similar to the poem that I know. I know the official poem of the Quest, for long ago I wrote it myself to seal the Covenant among many of the Gods and Goddesses of my world and your world with the Light Guardian. That was long ago. Your people were not yet magical, but the Elves, Goblins, Centaurs, and Leprechauns all participated. The Elves, Goblins, and Leprechauns have all set out on both failed and successful Quests, long before the first Witches participated. Would you like to hear the official version of my poem, as I first wrote it over ten of your millennia ago?"

"I very much want to hear it," I told Odin.

Odin sang his ballad to us. He also translated, so it did not rhyme. Before he began, he suggested that the entire Quest team gather around him, so that all would know what was required of them. "Perhaps you should also summon Cotto and Firenze, so that I may correct their errors," Odin told me.

I did, they arrived, and then Odin sang his song to us.

"_They shall fight for our future in the dark recesses of this world, where power hides, and in the light where it masquerades as something else_

_They shall plead and contest with the mighty Gods and Goddesses, for what is our right as magical peoples, reminding them of the Covenant they agreed_

_They shall strive on our behalf, despite danger, difficulty, and even suffering, doing what we should be able to do for ourselves, but will not_

_They will be young and very old, friend and foe alike, gifted with wisdom, strength and courage, which they willingly share to achieve our common goal of peace_

_Some will enter this fight knowing that they likely will not return to live upon the face of our world, but expecting to live among the Gods as thanks for their efforts,_

_They will understand what needs to be done and will do it willingly, without instruction or lead, and employing all of their shared knowledge and skills,_

_They will perfect the magic and will share it with all who choose to live in peace with their fellow thinking creatures, with no people seeking dominance over another_

_They will support all the Gods and Goddesses who swear allegiance to our most basic Covenant and will withhold their support from those who do not, for they are false Gods_

_They will diminish those Gods and Goddesses who cannot bring themselves to dwell in peace with us, separating them from the sources of their strength_

_The females will boldly stride where even the bravest male is too fearful to go, into the palaces of the great Odin and the other mighty Gods_

_Their male companions will support them and join the Quest when they can, in those places where they are allowed to go, but they will always help_

_The other magical peoples will assist them on their Quest, as the Mother of the Future and her Muse lead the Quest on behalf of all of them_

_They venture into the dark voids beneath the earth, where even the fiercest warrior dare not go and unto the worlds of the Gods from which few return_

_Prepared to fight with magic and without, but choosing to rely upon their wit, willingness to serve and skills of persuasion_

_These intrepid Questers will strive on behalf of all of us, seeking neither glory nor personal gain but rather peace among all creatures who think_

_If they succeed, they will return to make this world a far better place and banish the forces of dark magic and war_

_Purest magic shall prevail everywhere and all creatures who think may live in peaceful harmony with the Gods and cooperation with each other_

_These Questers have our deepest blessing as they willingly assume risks and tasks which we shun and follow the sacred rules of honor and reverence for all thinking creatures_

_We would assist them and ease their burdens, but we are fearful to tread in the provinces of the greatest Gods and Goddesses_

_The Quest is for the noble, not the greedy, for the Gods and Goddesses detest the pride and avarice of lesser beings who would steal their power_

_The inadequate and the mean of spirit shall surely fail to reach the end of this path and you shall know them by their failure and you shall not honor them_

_The true, the brave, the self-sacrificing pure of spirit may prevail, earning the greatest reward for all of us. There reward is to know that they have been of great service_

_But first, they must prove themselves wise, brave, deeply honorable, and willing to sacrifice all they hold dear for the benefit of others_

_Such is the spirit of a true Mother and Muse and such is the price for all of us to gain entry to the new golden age and renew our Covenant_

_All Gods and Goddesses who honor the Covenant with the Light Guardian must assist the Mother and her Muse, although they may require them to be of service_

_For the Quest is a great test of service and sharing and peaceful cooperation, more than it is a test of knowledge and skill_

_Be brave on your Quest, but most of all be joyous and learn everything that you can, because your Quest should be the best time of your life."_

"That's more than slightly different than the first version of the ballad," I told Odin. "Thank you for sharing that with us. It answers some questions. The rules of the Quest seemed wrong, but they also didn't really match what the first ballad said. Do you have revised rules for us?"

"You must follow the basic rules of the Light Guardian. Do not kill a thinking creature if you can avoid it. Kill only when it is the only way to save your life or the lives of good and honorable thinking creatures weaker than yourselves. Always follow and promote the Covenant. Always do what you believe to be right, if what you believe is in concert with the Covenant. Leave the honorable thinking creatures whom you encounter at least as well off as they were when first you met them. Learn and increase your skills and your ability to do good. Control your fears, for they will diminish you if you permit them to go amok."

"How will we know where we are to travel after we leave Durmstrang?"

"I will tell you. I will send you where there is greatest need for your service and secondly where you can learn the most."

"What is the role of the Black Stone in guiding the Quest?"

"The Black Stone does not guide the Quest. It sometimes relays instructions from me or very rarely from the Light Guardian. It is a source of knowledge which you may access. Those who are able to partially control the Stone may use its power to communicate, to travel, and to move things. They may use its strength to increase their defenses. It may aid them in sleeping. Sleep can be very important."

"What are the roles of the Keeper of the Universe and the Messenger Elf in guiding the Quest?"

"They do not guide the Quest. They may facilitate your communications, even with the Light Guardian. They may help you, as may your Keepers and other males. They may even join your Quest, although there are some places they may not go."

"Is it proper that we have so many magical communities represented on this Quest?"

"It is the first time, but it is most appropriate."

"If the biggest purpose of the Quest is to improve an purify magic and to confirm the allegiance to the Covenant by other Gods and Goddesses, then why us? Aren't you far moe able to do this than we are? What surprised me about the original rules was that they severely impeded our ability to do what must be done. Your rules are very reasonable, but it assigns duties to us which might properly be the province of a major God such as yourself."

"I doubt you will believe me when I say this, but there are many Gods and Goddesses who do not like me, are not open to persuasion by me, and will turn in the opposite direction merely to spite me. Also, how will you learn and fulfill your potential and your prophecies if I try to do the tasks myself?"

"So the prophecies are valid?"

"Yes, they are the most real prophecies you will ever encounter."

I had no more questions. I asked if Hermione could ask a question. Any of our party could ask a question. It was possible that not every question could or would be answered.

Hermione asked: "how were we chosen for this Quest?"

"I could say that you chose yourselves or that you were born to it or that a prophecy inspired you to be more than you otherwise might have been. All of that is true and all of it together is not the full answer. I don't know the full answer."

Jaden had a question. "My daughter and I were volunteered for a Quest by a very bad former boyfriend who held us prisoner. Now I'm part of this Quest. That seems a great coincidence."

"That is not actually a question. I will say that you seem destined to go on a Quest and that it is hard to avoid one's destiny. You are a special person who is able to be in two worlds, in physical form, at the same time while inhabiting yet another world in spirit."

"What is the purpose of the white stone column that we found in the Reception Hall for this circle?"

"It enhances the power of the circle and it communicates directly with me. You can learn to control it and to communicate through it. It is a force of goodness. If you are pursued by evil, you may come near to the white stone and it will prevent the evil ones from approaching. You should re-cover the stone. It's bareness leaves it vulnerable."

There were no more questions.

"It is time to travel to my world of Asgard. We will dine in my palace and I will tell you more of what you must do."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Seven – The Silver Palace**

"You must be guided by me to reach Asgard, it is not strictly of your world. I can walk from world to world, but you cannot. That is one way we tell who is a major God. Most of my people can walk between worlds. Most minor Gods cannot. A few Witches can do this and once in legend a Wizard did also. What we are about to do is like what you call side-along apparation. You all link hands with me in a giant chain, then you just walk along with me across an open space, and suddenly you feel just a shiver passing through yourself and you are in the world of Asgard.

To travel to another world is hazardous. You cannot easily return to your own world. This has happened in the past. A Witch managed to stumble into Asgard, didn't know how she did it, and was unable to return until a kind God, that would be me, walked her home. Now we just start to walk across this cavern and… did you feel it? Yes! You are now in Asgard. This cavern in Asgard greatly resembles the cavern you came from, but look behind you – there is no circle here."

I didn't even need to look behind me. My sense of smell is extremely sensitive and as soon as I felt the shiver rippling through my body, I could tell by the change in smell that we had crossed to a different place. I don't know how, but this new cavern had just slight undertones of dank/earthy, but mainly smelled of tree resin and roses.

"Oh shit!" I must have said it aloud, because a lot of heads turned my way, including that of Odin, who stopped and turned to face me with a questioning expression."

"Sorry. I can't believe I said that out loud. I always contact my husband, so that he can alert all of our Keepers, when we finish a significant stage of work, meet someone not even half as important as you, or move to a new location. I failed to pass on word of all three. I just got caught up in meeting you and finishing work on the ring of salt pillars."

"Ah, I thought something immediately awful was about to happen. We can go through the tunnel to this world's version of your Reception Hall chamber. The twin of the white column is located there and I suspect that you can use it to contact your husband. I use the two white columns to communicate between the two worlds."

He led us to a heavy metal door made of something that didn't look like the portal doors I was used to. This door did not slide into the ground. It was more like the door into the throne room of Castle Weasley. When Odin touched his spear tip to the center of the door, there was a loud click and he was able to pull the door open. He must be very strong. The door was about eight feet high and four feet wide. The startling measurement was the thickness of over five inches. I knew that I couldn't access the white column by this path. Of course, I also undoubtedly lacked the ability to unlock the door. Like the door at Castle Weasley, it might not even be visible to those not traveling with Odin or carrying one of his accoutrements, like the spear he had just used.

Odin led us through a wide and quite long tunnel into a less elegant reception hall than the one in our world. It did not have polished walls and ceiling and it was less than half the size of the Durmstrang Reception Hall. Actually, I thought the ceiling here was a little higher, at least the white column only came up to within two feet of the ceiling. It was bare. Odin feared no damage to it within his domain.

"Sit with your back and head against the white column and try to make contact with your world," Odin suggested.

I did that, also sliding my ring onto my wand and reaching back to touch the column. I concentrated and whispered to Harry. It worked, just as it would have had I been sitting in the Durmstrang Reception Hall. I gave Harry a quick report, told him I still loved him – phrased better than that – and said I would contact him through the Black Stone. That also worked. The Stone was pleased to hear from me and told me that I should test all of my powers in Asgard. Being able to do magic required that I be able to tie into the lines of magical force here, which were not powered by crystal circles. The Black Stone told me that, for now, it was best to commune with the Asgard White Column, since it seemed to emanate great magical power.

I broke contact with the Black Stone and tried to talk directly to the white column. I got no response back. I tried to draw on its power. I think that did work, at least a little. As I stood up and walked back to the rest of the group, I tried to continue drawing power from the column. It was still working, although I was less than thirty feet away from the column, so it wasn't a very practical test. I marked my spot, in case I needed to apparate back to this cavern.

"Thank you for giving me the time to do that," I told Odin. "Harry worries when I just disappear and he doesn't hear from me for over a day."

"Not a problem. I am happy to ease your family problems, but this was also a test of your abilities. Very few Mothers have been able to do what you just did. I also sense that you have been able to draw magical power from the White Column. That ability is more common among the Mothers I've tested, but half can't do that. A Witch who is truly gifted in magic can create magic in many strange environments. I have another test for you and then a quick test for your Muse and friends."

He walked to the far corner of the cavern, returning with a silver ingot. He placed it on the floor five feet in front of me. "What your people call 'leviosum', if you please. You could do this on your home world. Can you do it on mine?"

I pointed my wand at the ingot as a focused upon the White Column, drawing what power I could from it. I managed to lift the ingot to the level of my waist, before losing control and dropping it.

"Very good for a first try. Now, Muse, what can you do? First try to talk through White Column."

Hermione reported that she was able to contact the Black Stone. She lifted the ingot to about ankle height, before losing it in such an awkward manner that she fell back onto her bottom.

Most of the rest of my team didn't do very well. Only Cissy managed to contact the Black Stone, but she then only managed to just barely shift the ingot's position. Catta lifted the ingot to the height of her shoulders and launched it several feet farther away from her. Mafalda got the ingot to knee level and decided to lower it gracefully from that height. Cho managed to lift it about an inch. That was it. We weren't nearly as strong as on our home world. This made me wonder whether the reported absence of magic on ElfWorld and CentaurWorld was correct or if it was merely a different flavor of magic. Perhaps we all functioned best in the magical environment in which we were raised.

"You all must be tired and hungry. Let me lead you to Valaskjalf, where a fine feast has been prepared in your honor and where very comfortable beds await you," Odin tossed at us, before walking briskly to a fairly wide set of stone stairs at the end of the cavern.

We traversed five turnings and two hundred and twenty steps before arriving at another door, which Odin opened as he had the last one.

We stepped through the door into a gleaming palace. It was all silver with large crystal windows in the ceiling as well as the walls. Perhaps it actually was glass, as Hermione suggested. The expanses were very big for crystal. As soon as he passed through the entrance, Odin strode in commanding fashion to a large silver throne-chair on a raised dais facing the corner where two long window-walls came together. As soon as he sat upon the furs covering his throne, two ravens landed, one on each shoulder, and started chattering non-stop into his ears.

I followed him toward that corner of the room, being careful not to step upon the short dais or to disturb his concentration upon what his birds were telling him. He had treated me kindly thus far, and I didn't wish to do anything which might provoke his wrath. I also wanted to take advantage to get a good look at his kingdom through all of the clear surfaces around me. Everything within my vision was clear crystal. Even the floor I stood upon was clear, allowing me to look down the length of a cliff at a waterfall plunging into a ravine hundreds of feet beneath my feet. Before me and to my sides I saw the far side of the ravine. Strange trees grew from it, grassland and farm field in the middle distance, cut by a second stream, and then mountains beyond that. A closer look told me that the ravine, which as I followed it off to my right side was still going down, as far as I could see, as well as all of the flat trees, were the bottom of a large bowl, surrounded by mountains on all sides. They seemed to be very high mountains, as confirmed by a look behind and above me. The steep mountainside continued for another hundred or more feet above me.

There was sky, with clouds and a bright sun. The clouds were moving, and birds were crossing the sky in a way that told me I was looking at actual sky, not the magical faux sky of the Hogwarts Great Hall.

On closer inspection, I realized that there were two good-sized mirrors at waist to floor level and right in the corner of the room. They blocked my view of the outside. There were moving scenes in each of these mirrors, from two different places. As I looked at Odin, hoping that he was ready to speak to me, I noticed three smaller mirrors on the floor in front of him. I saw movement in them, but could not discern any detail.

I felt a hand on my arm and looked over to see Hermione. She whispered in my ear "I've never been in a place that shouts 'power' half as much as this room does. We were brought here to be impressed. I confess that I am… very impressed."

"As well you should be," Odin turned to speak to us. I designed this room myself. It allows me to keep watch over my kingdom, on the many worlds which hold portions of my kingdom. You wonder whether you look through glass or crystal. It is neither. It is a very strong and very pure magical barrier. The ceiling may look fragile, but I assure you that every other month, when a large rock comes bounding down the cliff, it merely bounces off of my magical ceiling – no harm done. I didn't bring you here to awe you with my power and riches. I needed to check up on things after being away for too long. All is well. I will tell you of some of your foes, while we dine.

He looked at the rest of my team, huddled around the entrance from the stairs and gave them a beaming smile and an overly-expansive welcoming wave "do not be shy, you are welcome to come forward and share my view. Just please don't sit upon my throne, that would confuse my birds. Please come have a look, I don't bite."

With varying degrees of boldness, all of my team eventually came all of the way up to the windows to enjoy the view. It relaxed them as quickly as it had relaxed me. There is something about spending days underground, which makes the soul cry out for just a brief glimpse of sky and green countryside. This Quest had given me a visceral sense of how burdened the Goblins were by their life underground. No wonder Ruppasta's supporters had been willing to revolt. From there I shifted to less generous thoughts of how cruel Cotto and Firenze had been to try to enforce rules upon me and my team which would have forced us underground for many months, without even a brief break to stare at a star or breathe fresh air on the surface, even at night. That, as much as being ripped from our loved ones, just struck me as pure nasty. Yes, I was still more than a little angry at that pair. I could be more forgiving of King Gobbledegook. For him, living underground was simply natural. His work world being totally separate from the world where Goblin females lived was also natural. I don't think he could even understand how cruel his Quest rules had been.

I noticed that Odin was already leading us to our dinner and hastened to catch up with him. He was obviously headed toward the wide stairs at the end of the room. These were not at all like the stair which had brought us into this room. There was no door barring the way, the stones were silver, with little bumps to improve our footing, and the stairway was brightly lit. Also, it was only fifty steps, taken in one straight path.

The stairs disgorged into a room which was very much the size and shape of Hogwarts' Great Hall. The wall to my left was all the same sort of clear magical barrier we had seen in the room below. The other walls and the floor were silver. Most of the ceiling was silver. Just at the end quarter of the room, next to the open wall was the ceiling transparent. There was a long silver table set almost against the clear wall. Odin led us to the table, pointing as we went to a smaller stand-up table for Pegasus and Cantring. Aagog looked around for her spot, but Odin told her that she must sit at table.

A tall elegant Goddess approached us. She looked very much like Professor Celine. Odin introduced her to us as 'my companion Frijjo'. Hermione had apparently heard of Frijjo and looked puzzled, but said nothing. Odin answered the question she hadn't asked.

"Yes, Frijjo has been my companion for twelve millennia. A major God or Goddess can appear to be whatever age they choose. That's another way you can identify a major God or Goddess. My apologies to my good friends Brighid and the Cailleach, but a major Goddess neither ages nor has her appearance chained to the march of the seasons. Frijjo often chooses to be quite young. I prefer a more mature appearance for myself. It is only fair. If I paraded around looking as young as my darling companion, others wouldn't always show me the proper respect and I would be forced to display more wrath than is my wont."

Okay, then. Frijjo sat at the end of the table next to the window as Odin sat at the opposite end and positioned me at his right hand. I expected him to choose Hermione to sit on his left, but he motioned her to sit at my other side and asked Professor Celine to sit next to him. This didn't seem to portend good things. I hoped that Adrienne could keep her Siren charms in check. I had no idea how jealous or how dangerous Frijjo might be. I confess that one reason I had wanted Adrienne Celine on the Quest was to use her influence over Gods, who might otherwise be less than friendly toward us. That was admittedly very unfair to Adrienne. I also hadn't considered the possibility that we would be dining with both a God and his all-but-wife. Now I needed Adrienne to be in her colder Professor Celine guise. I was grateful that she had assumed that role and even more grateful that Odin first turned his attention to Hermione.

Food and drink, borne by Goblin waiters, appeared as soon as we sat down. The Goblins here were a little taller than our Goblins. Goblin kings were unusually tall, but the shortest of our waiters was taller than either King Gobbledegook or Goblanze.

Odin seemed to prefer fruity sauces with lots of cinnamon and other spices. Some of the sauces were predominantly sweet, but with the pungence of spice. Others were very pungent, even hot, without a hint of sweetness. The sauces were paired with roasted game – boar and some kind of bird, as well as with a host of vegetables. There was a golden bread, with butter and jam available. There was plain fruit. There were four wines to choose among. There was fruit juice, or there was water – I was going to say plain water, but this was water with attitude - it had a sulphur taste and a bit of an odor. I found it mildly unpleasant, but Odin downed two glasses of the stuff. I felt that I had no choice but to finish my water.

Odin had eaten and drunk a fair amount and now it apparently was time for discourse. "The ravens bring me news of your world. Yes, they can cross between our worlds. I was telling Hermione that she has a very worthy animal companion. I would expect the Mother to have something more formidable than an owl. I have a young raven, whom I would be happy to gift you. It speaks and will learn your language quickly enough. A successful Mother can make good use of a feathered spy."

"Thank you very much, I can see how a raven spy could be of great use. The birds also seem very intelligent."

"They are. I think they are smarter than some of your kind, at least they make fewer mistakes. Don't be offended. There are sharp Wizards and there are dull Wizards, just as there are sharp and dull of most creatures. These ravens are enchanted. They draw upon brains larger than their own."

"Oh, what brains do they draw upon? Must I train them to do so?"

"Yes, you must, for yours is one of the brains upon which your raven should draw. At present, it draws upon mine. Through the White Column in can draw upon the factual knowledge stored in your Black Stone. The Black Stone can't independently gather knowledge, but it has a great ability to store and regurgitate it. It gains knowledge when you commune with it. Your senses become its senses, only delayed in time. It is the same with my ravens. They tell the Black Stone what they see. Ravens have done this for millennia. The Black Stone can give quite detailed, if sometimes out of date, air maps to my ravens, before they set out to spy for me. I can give you your bird after dinner, if you wish to start training it. I believe it will also be able to exchange thoughts with your owl and Hermione's phoenix, as well as Adrienne's phoenix."

I told Odin that I was most interested in beginning the training of the raven, while I had his experience to draw upon. I explained the ownership of the second phoenix. That seemed to lower Odin's opinion of Professor Celine. He didn't demand that she get up and move farther down the table, but neither did he speak to her again and at our next meal, she did sit next to his wife. For now, his focus was upon Hermione and me.

"I'm sure you want to know what my ravens tell me. They know where the remnant of your Salazar Slytherin is hiding. He hides in a country known as Albania in your world. Two very minor Gods, Cadmus and Medaurus, protect him. They are minor Gods from a relatively minor tribe. Cadmus was a human who was elevated above his station three millennia ago. Albania was a part of his and his son's territory, so it's only natural that he hides your Slytherin in that spot. Cadmus and Medaurus are not without power, but I think a powerful group of Witches, especially one with Brighid, the Cailleach, and Scathach fighting with them, can easily best them. Cadmus is on the level of your Little Ba'al or Scathach and Medaurus is no better than Brighid. Neither of them would stand a chance against the Cailleach is single combat.

"My ravens also tell me that there are little basilisks maturing in the sewers of Hogwarts. Their venom will soon be deadly. Some have made it into your lake and been devoured by the mer-people."

"That's amazing! How could your ravens learn of things at Hogwarts that our Keepers are not aware of?"

"Perhaps your Keepers have learned of this, since you spoke to your Harry. They were very young basilisks. Perhaps the mer-people thought them eels or are not at all frightened of tiny basilisks. You must ask Harry."

"Can the ravens fly into Hogwarts?"

"They most certainly can. A bird which can fly between worlds is not troubled by the barriers around Hogwarts. Just as those barriers aren't tuned to stop Elf-magic, they have no impact upon the magic of this world. They can enter Hogwarts as easily as you or I can."

Okay, I suppose that made sense.

After a dessert, which Hermione said was very similar to baklava and might actually be baklava made from the honey of bees who feasted on very different flowers than the bees of our world, Odin decided to confide some more about our Quest assignment.

"You probably want to know how you must be of service to me to advance on your Quest with my assistance. To start with the very mundane, you must repair the concealment of the White Column, which you so impertinently stripped away. I know you meant no harm, and I don't blame you, but breaking things in other people's homes is frowned upon. You thought the support pillar was in Cho's home, and in a sense it was, but in a larger sense it is part of my kingdom. Don't worry – you are freely forgiven.

"Your big assignment is to bring Sigrun to me. That means you must travel to BeyondWorld. We will discuss how you might achieve that, when we meet again for our morning meal. For now, I am quite aware that you are very tired. Frijjo will show you to your beds."

Frijjo motioned to Cantring and Pegasus that they must wait behind and led the rest of us to a narrow, circular silver staircase ascending from the far end of the eating chamber. We followed her single file up a level and into a curved corridor. Although we left the circular stairs, the stairs continued up at least another level. Frijjo provided the answer to my question.

"We are very near the top of mountain. Odin and I sleep one level up, at top of mountain. We all have very nice views."

Frijjo dropped us off in our rooms, where we were evidently expected to sleep in pairs. Hermione and I were shown into the first room. There wasn't actually a door to the room, just a row of strings of hanging amber beads, which apparently marked the location of a weak magical barrier. Frijjo instructed us to just push our way in with our shoulders. She left us with the cryptic instruction "the room will tell you when it is time to rise and when it is time to come downstairs to eat." She left us with a warning "Odin does not like guests who wander in the night. Be sure to stay in your room, until it tells you that you may leave."

Before I could reply, she was gone. We were expected to figure out the room ourselves. The summons to rise and to eat must be unmistakable.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Eight – Training To Invade Beyond World**

I didn't even take time to explore our room, beyond observing that it was very large, had two beds each larger than the one at home, which I shared with Harry, and that one wall and a third of the ceiling were transparent. I just plunked myself down on the nearest bed, telling Hermione "I'm going to see if I can whisper to Harry. Why don't you try to reach Ron through the Black Stone?"

Hermione had Fawkes perch upon her forehead. I did the same with my raven, who was now called Blacky. I suspected that my bird might well tell Odin everything that I said to Harry. This didn't bother me overly much, because I was quite sure that Odin could also learn what we said if I didn't use the bird. I had no doubt regarding Odin's power. I would have to use his White Column, and he would learn our secrets either from that stone or directly from my head at breakfast. I reached Harry. I think the raven was the biggest reason why I was successful. It had already been trained enough to know how to link with the White Column.

Harry had trouble believing that a raven could know that there were basilisk young in the Hogwarts plumbing and lake when he was ignorant of that fact, despite being on the alert for basilisk hatchlings. Harry found the Albania story to be more believable and promised to lead a team of aurors to investigate. I told Harry how much I missed him. He told me he was straining not to beg me to come home instantly.

Harry was as frightened by my proposed trip to BeyondWorld as I had been when I first learned of his determination to visit there. I assured Harry that Odin very much wanted me to return safely and would help in any way he could. Sigrun and her Valkyrie also wanted to return to our world and would help rather than hinder me. Harry said that wasn't what worried him. Clearly whomever or whatever was now preventing the Valkyrie from making the trip back to our world would try to stop me from returning accompanied by Valkyrie. It only made sense. I had to admit that yes, it made a lot of sense, and no I didn't yet have a plan to allow me to succeed where Sigrun has failed. Yes, the Valkyries had very great powers, I admitted to Harry, but Hermione and I also possessed great skill and knowledge. We ended that topic with Harry commenting {[worried]And yet neither of you has a clue how you can pull off this mission. Blundering around BeyondWorld waiting for inspiration to strike sounds more suicidal that my trying to make a short trip to talk to my parents. Nobody was actively trying to prevent my return, except for BeyondWorld itself. You will challenge BeyondWorld and more.}

I quickly relayed a message from Hermione to Ron. This long-distance whispering was very mentally tiring and Harry's pessimism was weighing upon my spirits. I was not sorry when I broke contact with Harry.

I realized I was in need of hunting up a toilet and explored our room. As I approached the side wall, beyond Hermione's bed, the wall slid open, revealing a bathroom of solid silver. Even the piping was silver. It seemed almost sacrilege to shit into a solid silver toilet, but that's what I did. It was a little chilly to sit upon, but far better than the buckets we had been forced to use in our weeks of underground Quest service. There was also a giant silver bathing tub set on a pedestal. I knew that I badly needed to make use of it. Odin had been generous to feed us before requiring that we sluice off. This time we had been underground less than a week since I had bathed in my own home. Prior to coming up into the night air at Stonehenge, I had been shut up underground with my fellow Questers for weeks. That was just brutal.

No matter how sacred or well-finished a magical circle's cavern may be, it is a small, enclosed space with very little air movement. It is dank. Odors build up and stay in closed caverns. Dank accentuates the various smells. By the time we finished our stay in each of the caverns, the predominant smells came from ourselves, although the stench of basilisk was still detectable in the Chamber of Secrets. I liked the new Quest rules, which allowed us breaks above ground. Here I had a silver toilet and a soft bed with clean linens. Underground I shared a bucket and slept on the stone floor with the same blankets for a week or more. It wasn't just our slop bucket and my too-long used bedding which stank. Even the smell of something as pleasant as the the curries and stews we consumed stayed with us our entire stay in a cavern. There simply was no place for the smells to go away to.

The other members of my Quest had their own smells. I might have found Firenze infinitely dreamy, before he laid his insane Quest rules upon me, but living with my equine assistants underground for three weeks left me overwhelmed by their smells. At least I managed to convince Cantring to use the bucket, which came with a lid. Pegasus insisted upon using her mound of straw. I know that I shouldn't complain about the personal hygiene habits of other species, since they found mine equally strange. Pegasus thought me quite silly when I declined her offer to share her straw. I know I should have been honored, since she didn't even offer to share her straw with Hermione, but I stuck with the bucket as the bad, rather than awful, choice.

But, I do have a very sensitive sense of smell, which I cherish. After the stench of the caverns, I didn't know if I would ever again be able to spice by smell. If I had to follow somebody else's recipe by rote, measuring this, then measuring that, without ever getting to wonder if this or that other spice would be a happy addition… well, I fear that there would be no joy in cooking left to me. It is one thing to risk your life for the good of others, but to senselessly sacrifice your nose, just to follow a stupid set of rules… not good.

Hermione was staring at me and wondering what I was stewing about. I told her. She laughed. "It has been pretty awful, hasn't it? We've accomplished so much, though, I guess not all of it good, but we couldn't be sure of that at the time."

Then she told me that if I were ever Hogwarts headmaster, that I would rhapsodize to the young girls about the joys of roughing it in deep-underground caverns with my Quest companions.

She made me laugh at myself and that cheered me immeasurably, as did I nice hot soak in that silver tub. Hermione also had a bath, then we shut up my raven in the bathroom, laid down upon my bed with our heads close enough together that we felt we could whisper plans and not be overheard.

"I want to keep Harry and Ron and our parents up-to-date and get their advice, but I don't want Tony, or Odin, or just about anybody else to know what we say to each other. We need a plan to go to and from BeyondWorld. I think the transporter still works for BeyondWorld, but I'm not sure it won't just leave us there, if that is the wish of whomever has been sneaking instructions into it. I'm afraid that someone is living in BeyondWorld and that it is stronger than Odin. That must be why the Valkyries traveled to BeyondWorld and why they are trapped. They are fighting that evil someone and they are losing. They need our help, but I'm not sure that we are strong enough to make a difference. Whomever is causing he trouble there will no that we have to return home with help from the Black Stone."

"Do we know that for certain?" I asked her. "Couldn't we use a portkey? We used them to transport Baal."

"That might work," Hermione agreed. "It's certainly a good secret trick for us to have. When we've traveled to BeyondWorld before, we've traveled as disembodied spirits. The portkey won't work on a spirit, will it? Will a Valkyrie even be able to side-portkey travel with us? Can we survive BeyondWorld in bodily form? We were right at the edge of its atmosphere in our prior trips."

"I don't know. This isn't going to be easy. You don't even have access to a library here, so we can't research information without the Black Stone and evil somebody learning what we're up to."

"I packed as much of the library as I felt we might possibly need," Hermione assured me. "Rest assured that I have every book and article that I could find which was even slightly related to portkeys, corporeal or non-corporeal apparating, or to spirit fighting. Unfortunately, there simply isn't anything written on transportation by the Black Stone's transporter. Lack of things to read won't be a problem. Lack of sufficient detail likely will be. What else can you suggest?"

I couldn't answer that. Needing to feel that I was doing something constructive, I tried to read images from Blacky's mind. After an hour, I did get a Blacky-eyed view of Hermione. I considered that to be enough of a success and surrendered to sleep. It was a great bed and I slept well.

I awoke to light streaming in through the ceiling of our room and a flock of ravens pecking and flapping their wings against the ceiling. My Blacky was fluttering about the room, bouncing off the ceiling and generally making a huge racket. I leapt out of bad to find that Hermione had outraced me and claimed the bathroom. I ordered Blacky to come and perch upon my shoulder 'at once!', having no idea what an 'or else' could possibly be.

Fortunately, he followed instructions and quieted down, landing beside me and allowing me to stroke his feathers. He then jumped up on my shoulder and relayed an image of a white owl trying to gain entrance to my bedroom. It was a huge owl, close to twice the weight of Harry's bird. I knew nobody in Odin's world who might try to message me. Apart from Odin and his companion, I knew nobody at all. According to what I saw in Blacky's mind, the owl tried to penetrate the magical barrier for close to ten minutes, before sunlight splattered against the barrier and the horde of ravens descended upon the poor owl, forcing it to make a hasty retreat. I thought a question to my raven 'Do you recognize that owl?' Blacky did not.

I had barely finished my ablutions when the whole room began to vibrate in tune with a deep bass chime. If this wasn't an obvious call to breakfast, the door swinging open of its own accord would easily have conveyed the message on its own. Hermione and I bounded down the stairs to the eating room.

Frijjo was the only person in the world. She directed us toward our places at the table, explaining why she was greeting us on her own. "My Lord will join us shortly, although perhaps after we have finished our meal. He has agreed to meet one of the minor Gods regarding a dispute over water rights. Even a mighty God like Odin must devote his attentions to mundane matters of governance. He is also our King and has an obligation to listen to the concerns of the lesser Lords. He will happily devote his full attention to you after he finishes that business. Meanwhile, I wished to speak with you on my own.

"I wanted to warn you about my Lord's moods, and to impress upon you how very concerned he has been since the Valkyrie have been out of contact. They are vital to his authority. Without them, he must engage in personal combat to enforce his will. That has made his mood darker than I have known in years. He is a merciful God, but he cannot abide being balked by those who serve him. He thinks Sigrun has been most rebellious. He suspects that she stays away by choice, because she fears his wrath. She is wise to fear it. He desperately wants to speak with her, but I'm certain that his first words will not be kind.

"You don't want to get on Odin's bad side. Don't challenge him. Present yourselves as his willing helpers and he will treat you kindly and help you to complete your Quest. His help can minimize losses among your companions. The two of you have been very proper in your contacts with my Lord. I wanted to warn you that others have not behaved as appropriately and that this jeopardizes your standing with my Lord and thus risks your Quest."

"What's the problem?," I hastened to inquire, in what I hoped was a totally helpful and non-challenging tone.

"Scathach and her son are very proud. They are far too proud for two almost-minor-Gods of their low status. Little Baal dared to challenge my Lord and when the mighty Odin cuffed him, his mother had the temerity to tell Odin to behave himself. You should consider sending Baal away, if you cannot convince him to behave. He needs to make a most sincere and abject apology to Odin. If he doesn't do so within the day, being banished from Asgard is the slightest harm which might befall him. He really is a very impudent little man. I understand that you saved his circle and his life. Perhaps he will listen to you. I advise speaking to his mother first. She is more reasonable and must since have given some thought to what it means to offend the mighty Odin."

"What a wonderful start to the day," Hermione whispered just loud enough for Frijjo to catch.

"For me as well as for you," Frijjo answered before I could. "Odin was in a bad mood when he came to our bed last night."

Frijjo rose abruptly from Odin's seat, which she had taken to speak to us, and hurried off to her own place. I thought the hasty departure might be due to the premature return of Odin, but quickly realized that it was due to Cissy bounding down the stairs. She did her hop-skip walk across the eating room. Frijjo sat Cissy next to Hermione. Since Frijjo's seat was at the far end of the table, we were able to converse privately with Cissy.

"Did you observe a quarrel between Odin and Little Baal last night?" I asked Cissy.

"I heard Baal shouting something at Odin, but I couldn't make out what he said. He had walked right up to Odin and was facing him with arms crossed. I knew it was bad so I worked really hard to keep from laughing. Baal only comes up to the top of Odin's shoulders, so he looked rather silly. Then Odin smacked him and told him to go to his room before worse befell him. Scathach gave Odin plenty of room, but asked him in a not very meek way to 'please not be such a bully toward my son'. Odin gave her a very strange look and abandoned the room to us. Adrienne and I were the only others still here from our group."

The rest of our group swiftly arrived, as did the servants bearing our food. I saw Scathach, but not Baal, and decided that I would grab the chance to talk to her without her son knowing I was doing so. I whispered to Hermione to collect Brighid and Mafalda and join Scathach and me at the giant window.

With what I hoped would look like just the five of us enjoying the natural sights beyond the barrier, I asked Scathach, "I understand Baal and Odin fought last night. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No. My son foolishly took offense when Odin told him that he should be very grateful that you saved his circle and his life. Baal felt he was being put down. In truth, Baal had drunk overly much wine and forgotten whom he was speaking to. I also gave offense, but not nearly so much as my son. Baal is returning home. He will ask Frijjo to help him depart, before Odin returns. He has written a formal letter of apology and in it he has sworn his fealty to Odin. I told Baal that Odin will want the apology in person. He says that he can't, but that I am permitted to apologize for both of us."

"That seems like a problem," I commented as neutrally as I could.

"Yes, I'm afraid it could be. Both to our Quest and because Odin may come after Baal. Baal has always been foolishly over proud. It is his greatest flaw. He says the best approach to preserve your Quest is for you to tell him in front of Frijjo that you don't support his actions of last night and must ask him not to remain on your Quest. Baal expect you to say this and will not take offense."

We returned to our seats. I had just loaded my plate with thick slices of what my first bite told me was extraordinarily fine ham, and was reaching for a giant boiled egg, when Baal appeared and approached me.

"I am sorry to have caused a disturbance with our mutual host," Baal spoke to me loudly enough for Frijjo to hear every word.

I told Baal what his mother had told me I must say. I departed from her script to tell Baal, "you must apologize to Odin in person. One may not behave to a major God like that, especially in that God's own palace."

Baal seemed taken aback by my departure from his mother's plan. He stood blank-faced and quiet before me for half a minute, before pivoting on his right heel and walking with what I'm sure he regarded as great dignity to stand before Frijjo. I was unable to understand what he said to her, but her loud reply was impossible to miss.

"Very well, I view your approach as a cowardly one, but I will escort you back to your world and relay your most humble and abject apology to the might Odin. I cannot presume to tell you whether or not he will respond favorably to this most strange written and second-hand apology. I know he wanted to speak to your person this morning. He will not be pleased to have missed that opportunity, but I realize that it is natural for your apology to be limited by your lack of courage. Please… come with me. You've not been much of a help on this particular Quest, have you?"

The two of them quickly departed via the down stairs. I would have enjoyed my meal more had I not been so shocked and worried by the start to my day. Mafalda came forward to advise me, as soon as I rose from table.

"Don't worry. You did what you had to do. Scathach knows her son's limitations and realizes that he made this mess on his own. She isn't exactly pleased that you told Little Baal that he must apologize in person, but says it likely was for the best and will keep any of Odin's remaining displeasure focused upon Baal. She requests that you keep Odin busy, so that he doesn't immediately pursue Baal before he cools down. I can tell you that Odin has been known to take weeks to cool down, that is if the subject of his anger lives that long. Baal will help us later, if he can."

Oh.

Frijjo returned and took all of us on a tour of the gardens and the gorge, which was directly outside our viewing window. We accessed all of this by descending one level on the circular stairs and then crossing a very formal room to a very wide magical barrier window, through which we could pass with minimal struggle. This led us along a ten foot pathway of white sand to a wide transparent bridge with silver railings, which spanned the nearly two-hundred foot width of the gorge.

Vertigo aside, the view through the bottom of the bridge was astonishing. The gorge fell off steeply beneath us and we could see the foam and spray of the little stream as the water plummeted hundreds of feet to the bottom of the gorge. The stream looked quite narrow, all that way down. I became slightly dizzy and had to force myself to look forward and finish crossing the bridge.

I was on the flat grassy plain that I had viewed from windows on multiple levels of the palace. It seemed bigger as I stood upon it, clearly stretching miles ahead and to either side of me. The 'grass' was different that the grass of my home. It was almost a cross between grass and heather. The ground itself was mushily springy. As I turned back to the right, I saw a herd of grazing animals coming toward me. I took a closer look, as Hermione elbowed me and pointed at them.

There were cattle and a few sheep, but toward the rear of the herd were a dozen unicorns. Frijjo guided us toward them. We met them halfway, the cattle and sheep dividing to pass on either side of us, but the unicorns walking right up to us. One of the unicorns seemed to want to touch the side of her head to mine. I leaned in to establish contact.

I was flooded by alien thoughts. This unicorn had walked between worlds, but ours hadn't been one of the worlds she had visited. She knew that I was the Mother and wished me well on my Quest. She matter-of-factly stated that of course she would accompany me the rest of the way. We could converse between touched heads like we were doing now, or through Blacky. Her current assignment, directly from Odin, was to help me to train Blacky and to teach me and my team how we must travel to and from BeyondWorld. She showed me the surface of BeyondWorld. It was dark, foggy and oppressive looking. I saw what appeared to be a stone building a hundred yards from where my unicorn had stood. I got the message that we must go to this spot. As the unicorn broke contact, she informed me that I could call her Unique, which was a shortening of her totally unpronounceable long name Andiuniquiferverouskikik. I thanked her and looked to my left to see Hermione just breaking contact with a second unicorn. Blacky hopped from my shoulder onto Unique's head, while Fawkes settled onto the head of Hermione's unicorn.

Pegasus and Cantring were talking to three of the unicorns. Just normal talking, they didn't have their heads pressed against each other and there were no avian intermediaries. I did see that Tendra and Catta were mounted upon their backs, although I doubted that they could understand the language of the unicorns. I had learned a smattering of it from the Light Guardian, but my ears simply weren't up to the task. I found I missed many spots in Unicorn-speak, as the words would suddenly rise or crash in pitch beyond the range my ears were capable of detecting. Pegasus and Cantring didn't seem to have that problem. Pegasus was no surprise, but Cantring was. I tended to think of the top half of a Centaur as identical to us, but apparently that wasn't true. My musing were interrupted by Frijjo.

Frijjo said that it was time to return to the palace. I begged a longer look and was allowed to stroll a little farther onto the plain, so that I could turn and get a better look at the palace. There were four levels above the bridge level. The top level was at the very peak of the mountain. Looking around us, the plain was surrounded on its other three sides by mountains almost as tall.

"Beautiful isn't it," Frijjo commented. "All that you see is part of this estate. Odin rules this whole world, but this is one of three estates that he owns outright. You may get to see the other two, before you leave. One of those is Valhalla. It is rare for a female to be permitted entry to Valhalla, but Odin suggested to me that you might see it. The palace extends all the way through this mountain and out the other side. There is a larger plain on the other side of the mountain and Odin's laboratory and celestial observatory. If you behave, he may show them to you."

The two unicorns followed us to the bridge and across it into the castle. They followed us into the grand room, which turned out to be one of Odin's throne rooms. We had been facing toward the window, when we came down the stairs and hadn't looked behind us. As I re-entered the room through its magical barrier, I saw the huge expanse beyond the stairs. The room must be close to five hundred feet long.

Frijjo noticed me staring and caused the lights in the far end of the room to rise to the intensity of noon-time sun.

"You may take a closer look at Odin's throne, if that is your desire. You may not touch it or stand upon the dais."

We all walked the four hundred feet to the throne platform. The throne was one of the few things in the palace not made of silver. It looked almost gold, but as we got closer, I could tell it was highly polished brass. It also was immense, its back soaring forty feet to the ceiling. I realized that as we had walked beyond the stairs toward the throne that the ceiling had sloped sharply upward. The light was coming from the ceiling, but no specific light source was evident. As we reached the edge of the dais, I realized that the seat of the throne was unusually wide, as in over twice as wide as Odin needed.

I was beginning to suspect that Frijjo could sense my thoughts, as she explained. "Odin can alter his physical size. When he needs to impress the other Gods, he is fully capable of filling his throne. I must check to see if Odin has sent a message for me. You may explore this room. I will return within an hour."

I started to explore, looking at the articles of royal power arrayed around the throne. There were two very long spears standing vertically to either side in front of the throne. A large golden cape was draped across a stand to the right of the throne, while an emerald-encrusted silver crown, also over-sized, sat upon a silver table to the left of the throne. A crystal sword, fully five feet long, with a blade two inches wide, leaned against the table. I saw a smaller throne farther away to the left and wondered if it was Frijjo's.

Hermione interrupted me, suggesting that we should find out what Cantring and Pegasus had learned from the local unicorns, while our hostess was still away.

Pegasus summarized for us: "They asked if we had walked between worlds. I told them no. They said the unicorn were made to travel between many worlds, but that there were only a few points on each world where passage was possible. They suggested that there must be no such favored spots where we lived. They were shocked to find how small our sanctuary is. They spend most of their time on this estate, but that gives them more than ten by twenty miles to roam and the walk-over points are within this space. They said that they feel confined if they remain on the estate for too long, and expressed great sympathy that we were imprisoned on such a tiny piece of forest.

"They said that while, in one sense, BeyondWorld and UnicornWorld were far beyond the nearest stars, that in another sense they were mere steps away for a unicorn. They have been to both places, although BeyondWorld is too dark and sad for them to re-visit, unless an assignment from Odin requires it. Odin has required it, and they are dreading that visit. They have never been to CentaurWorld or to our world."

"That's very interesting," I told Pegasus. "Unique told me that she will help me to train Blacky and that she will also teach me what I need to know to visit BeyondWorld. She knows that I'm the Mother of the Future, that Hermione is my Muse, and that all of us are beginning a Quest."

"That's much the same as Corn told me," Hermione agreed. "She also said that she has seen another Quest, but that now was not the time to tell me about it. She said that the unicorns on this world are Odin's sacred beasts. They bring him bright magic and he protects them from those who are jealous of their powers. There are thirty-five unicorns on this world. The others are on the opposite side of this mountain. They have memories going back over thirty-thousand of our years and legends going back three times farther than that. That is before the time of Odin. A major legend of the unicorns of this world is that a black God threatened to destroy them. They tried to fight it, but could not. Hundreds of unicorns perished in battle, before Odin appeared. He drove away the black God and has protected the unicorns ever since. That is why they willingly serve him."

"That is all true," I was surprised to hear Frijjo talking from just behind my left shoulder. "We must go. My Lord returns in less time than it takes us to climb the stairs. The unicorns can't do stairs. They must walk to the ramps, but they will join us."


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Twenty-Nine – Odin's Return**

Despite Frijjo's warning, Odin appeared to be in an excellent mood, when he greeted us in the eating room.

"I'm glad you had the chance to get outdoors and meet the unicorns. You suffer from too much time indoors after all of that time underground. Most of you are not Goblins and should not live like that. Even Goblins should not live like that. If your Quest goes well, perhaps no magical creatures must live like that ever again. Quests are only needed when things go very wrong. Your task is to fix them in a way that they will stay fixed for a very long time. The problem is the hiding away of magical creatures. You are frightened of what you call Muggles and they are frightened of you. You're too different. You haven't allowed them to become accustomed to you. You let Voldemort run amok. You shunned both the Light Guardian, the Goblin Master – yes I realize they are one and the same – not to mention the old Gods like me. This has caused problems for you. Worry not, together we will fix all of that."

A hidden passage in the side wall in front of me slid open, revealing a wide, curving ramp from which Unique, Corn, Cantring and, finally, Pegasus emerged.

"Ah, the unicorns join us. My unicorns always lift my spirits, as do successful meetings with sufficiently deferential lesser Gods," a smiling Odin informed us.

I wondered how much wine he had consumed during his meeting. Perhaps he just felt a need to jolly us along.

"Unique told me that the unicorns would train us and help me to better work with Blacky," I said as a means of, I really don't know what, perhaps bringing Odin more to what I felt was on point.

It probably was an unwisely rude thing to do, but if it was an offense, Odin chose to ignore it. Actually, I'm not even sure he heard it – Blacky had flown to his shoulder and was speaking into his ear. I wasn't surprised. I had always known that my bird was half helper and half spy for Odin.

"I hear that you and Ignatz have made great progress in your mutual training. That is good. You must include Hermione and both phoenixes in future training. The unicorns will assist you. I am well able to get you to BeyondWorld, even if you fail to learn to world-walk, but you will be far safer it you can learn that skill. I'm sure you'll try. You are both diligent and intelligent Witches, and I know you are devoted to your Quest. It is a skill which you must be born with, a latent talent, or no level of practice will allow you to master it. Since it is closely related to magic, at least half of Witches who are good at magic can master world-walking. That's why no males go with you on this part of your Quest. It is not an arbitrary rule to separate you from your lovers. I freely grant you permission to return to your homes before you travel to BeyondWorld. I've only met two males in all my life who could learn to world-walk. It would be far to dangerous for your lovers to accompany you to BeyondWorld. That is why I make Baal go home. He also annoys me, but I look to his safety. There are too few minor Gods left to just throw one away, even a minor not-quite-God such as Baal."

"Thank you for sharing this skill with us," was the least lame response I could think of.

"Not my skill, it is the unicorns who are the natural world-walkers. They taught me. My greatest skill is my ability to talk to magical animals. That and my long life is what made me a major God. Part of the secret is that my people, the Aesir, have a very extended range of hearing. I can't share that with you but I will share with you what I can.

"The two of you and I share a personal relationship with the Light Guardian. That is another secret to my success. I have a few other special skills, which I will try to teach you. Everything else I have is from learning. I have had many years to study and experiment. I like you. You will see my lab and my observatory. We will do that today. I like you, but I help you mainly because I know how important it is that you finish your Quest. There are many problems, which you can help me to solve. I have great power, but I dare not go to BeyondWorld. I would be swarmed and destroyed. Even great power cannot save a God from the swarming.

"This silver palace is impregnable against the swarm. Alas, there is no silver on BeyondWorld. That is part of what makes it so dangerous. Silver is the metal of magic. Your Hogwarts has great magical barriers, but they are nothing compared to my Valaskjalf. This place is the most magically secure place you will find upon any of the linked worlds. It is partly all the silver, partly all the charms my unicorns and I have constructed, partly simply its precise location on Asgard at the point where the energy of the two white columns flows in from other worlds. This is a place of good. The swarm is evil and cannot survive here."

"Two white columns?" Hermione asked. "We saw the first column at Durmstrang, but didn't find a second one there."

"Because it's not there. You have seen it. It is located at Azkaban on your world. You have studied mathematics, so you will understand this. The worlds aren't flat things laid side-to-side or one-atop-the-other style – they are complex curves that touch at only a few spots. On your world Durmstrang and Azkaban are far apart. Here, the magical energy they send out arrives within this very mountain and my palace was built to contain all of the most intense lines of magical force. In fact, the two sets of lines intersect in my bedchamber at the top of this mountain.

"You are not used to the nature of magic on this world. That is part of what you will learn. As you learn to adapt to it, you will find that your magical abilities are far greater here than they have ever been. It's like when you fixed the magical circles on your world. Many sleeping magical beings awakened. Those already awake became stronger. "Those such as yourselves, who tuned the circles, benefitted most of all – without trying to do so, you tuned the circles to most benefit yourselves. Everyone who looks at a circle through a magical force viewer will see slightly different magical lines and slightly different points where the magical force lines are smudged, leaking where they aren't supposed to go, or interfering. You tune the circle to look most right to yourself. I would tune it differently, as would a Goblin, or even another of your own people. We are all a little different in how we see and tap into the magical force around us.

" As you travel to different worlds, you must adapt to slightly different magicks. Learning to adapt to Asgard will allow you to adapt to BeyondWorld that much faster, which may save your lives. In truth, there isn't much magic on BeyondWorld, so you will have to claw for every bit you can find. You can also store a bit of magic within your wand and your birds and yourselves and use it to advantage. What you call your monolith is a good place to store magic. Enough of listening to me, it is time for food and drink. I met with two minor Gods who gifted me with a most wonderful mead. It is my wish that you and your companions share it with me. I have several kegs, so we can do a lot of drinking."

Lunch was superb. There were many vegetables, a spicy soup, and small grilled chops of something very similar to venison. And there was mead, so much mead. Mom had said it was alright to have a third sherry if offered by the headmaster or Minister. It's just the smallest extrapolation from that maternal wisdom to my decision that if a major God offers you a fifth glass of mead, that of course it is appropriate to drink it. By the time I finished that fifth mead, quite a lot of things seemed perfectly reasonable to me. Of course unicorns drank mead, or at least slurped it up with their tongues. Even giant spiders were accustomed to drowning their worries in a big puddle of mead.

"Of course unicorns like mead," Odin assured me. "It's the honey. Honey is a natural temptation to a unicorn. That and chocolate, although they don't normally come by much chocolate. You've brought a supply. Do share with us, as I've shared the gift of this wonderful mead."

I felt bad, not having previously shared our chocolate with Pegasus. I didn't think unicorns ate much besides grass and grains and in wintertime piles of hay. Hay did sound awfully boring. How mean of me not to share a chocolate bar with my good friend Pegasus.

"Pegasus, come to Ginny. I have chocolate. I'm so sorry to have held out on you. I just didn't know. Please forgive poor Ginny."

Hermione had reached into her magical bag and pulled out handfuls of chocolate, which she tossed onto the table. I grabbed a very nice bar of plain dark semi-sweet chocolate, 60% cacao, and peeled it for Pegasus. I thrust out the bar for her to nibble.

"Eat, Pegasus. Eat and forgive your Ginny, who is most sorry she didn't give you chocolate, or mead, or even Witch's sherry. It's really, really good, huh? You're such a strong and pretty unicorn and you are going to help teach me to water-walk, err walk-between-worlds-walk."

Hermione said something to me and as I turned, she shoved a half-eaten chocolate bar toward my face. Since I had been about to speak and was slack-jawed with surprise, bar mostly met open mouth, although rest of bar smeared on my nose.

"It's the dark chocolate bar with orange, isn't it yummy?" Hermione inquired.

A booming laugh came from Odin on my other side. "I thought mature Witches were used to drinking large quantities of sherry," he challenged me.

"Am too," I agreed. "Mead is new. Five is new. I don't fall over. Ginny happy."

"Then Odin is happy too," He assured me. "Are you going to remember anything I try to teach you this afternoon? Perhaps we should forget the lesson and just give you the tour. Would you like to see the top of the mountain, where all the magical forces comes together, the source of great Godly power?"

"Great, I'd love to see the seat of Godly power," Cho piped up.

"Me too," Cissy declared.

Frijjo decided to come with, in order "to show you the things that Oden always neglects to point out. His tours tend to be cut short."

Back to the circular stairs and up two levels, which was a surprising struggle for me. Cho heaved my rump up at various points to keep me upright and moving forward. The round and round was actually a little dizzying.

We were disgorged into a very large and most spectacular room. It was a circle and it was fifty feet across. Most dramatically, the silver walls ended at a height of only four feet. Above that and overhead was nothing but a transparent magical barrier. The view was totally incredible. The next thing I noticed was that the center of the room was dominated by a giant circular bed fifteen feet across and covered by white furs. I turned toward it for a closer inspection, but Cho steered me to the giant window and led me around the whole circumference of the room.

The first thing one saw was a ring of mountains in the distance. It was hard to guess how far, but I'd chance five to ten miles. The far mountains were lower than the one upon which we stood. There was plain on all sides with both cropped land and lots of grass with a half dozen herds scattered throught the almost grass. Looking sharply downward, one could see the mountain falling sharply away on all sides of us. I gave one look too many in the steeply downward direction and was overcome by vertigo. I turned my head and found myself barfing all over Odin's fine boots.

What do you say to a God, when you have just barfed all over his boots and a pants-leg. I couldn't muster better than a feeble "sorry," before having to turn away from him to collapse in a barfing heap on the floor.

As Cho hastened to use cleansing spells upon Lord Odin, it was clear that Frijjo was able to come up with something to say.

"It serves you right. Really, what did you expect after five meads? She's not even fully adult. I'm just glad not to have that mess in my bed."

Odin decided that a tour of the lab and observatory could wait until after I had a brief lie down. I made it down the one level of stairs, with Cho backing down the stairs in front of me and Adrienne sort of supporting me by the shoulders from the rear. I knew that I wasn't feeling quite as embarrassed as I should. That would come.

Cho propelled me onto my bed and I was almost instantly asleep. Hermione told me that I slept for three hours.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty – Odin The Inventor**

"I think we'll find the others in the eating room," Hermione told me. "First, wash up, brush your teeth, and put on some fresh clothes. You stink. You hit yourself as well as Odin when you barfed up your lunch."

I meekly did as requested, then followed Hermione down the stairs to the eating room. Everyone was indeed there, chatting in small groups. Odin was conversing with Adrienne, who was once again shepherding our second phoenix. Odin looked away from Adrienne to size me up, as we entered the room.

"Ah, you look much healthier than when last I saw you. You are walking straight and upright again. I didn't realize you had such a low stamina, where mead is concerned. We waited for the two of you to tour my laboratory. Good news Ginny – you passed an important test for a Quest Leader. With that necessity out of the way, we can move forward together."

"Bah! She passed no test. Her friends and her weak stomach saved her from your test. You always think that you must conduct this test. It is not in the rules," Frijjo declared, obviously not yet at peace with Odin's actions.

We walked down four levels, then hung a right, through a magical barrier, across another silver and crystal clear bridge, and out onto another plain. This time the ground wasn't springy. Bending down, I discovered something very close to real grass, although the leaves has streaks of red superimposed onto the green. The lab building looked much larger as we approached it on this level. Even so, the curving walls of the celestial laboratory loomed above the grey stone laboratory from directly in back of it. Hermione, who was following my gaze, exclaimed in shock "it's a telescope – a really big professional telescope, not the little kid ones we used in Firenze's class."

"Yes, it's my very own telescope, but please, first there are wonders to see in my lab," Odin sounded as if he was being robbed of the pleasures of being our tour guide. He steered us toward the front of the laboratory. It was solid grey stone, with no windows – also no door in the front. The walls were fifty feet tall and the building a good three hundred by four hundred foot rectangle.

"I love the light and the views of my world, but I must protect my work from prying eyes. There are many jealous lesser Gods. Even a Goblin or two have tried to learn my secrets. This is where I invented the metal that you call Goblin metal. It's correct name is Odin's Silver. It is three-quarters silver, but stronger and more magical. Before all of its properties were understood, I called it Mimicking Silver, because a skilled magician can cause it to assume and color or shading, including not being visible at all or even looking like a painting. There is a magical barrier in the front, tuned to me. You merely have to force your way through the barrier, making sure to stay close to me."

He vanished and I followed him.

"Look at all the silver," Hermione gasped, pointing to my right, where a huge pile of silver ingots was stacked up against the wall. "And look over here. Ingots of other metals. I recognize gold. The smallest ingots seem to be tantalum. These are platinum – obviously copper over there, and this is silicon."

"You'd make a very good spy for the Goblins," Odin told her. "Of course Tendra is also taking a very close look. I was going to mix up a batch of Odin's silver in your honor, but I think perhaps I shouldn't do that. Straight ahead is my main production furnace."

I had seen it, but hadn't known what is was. It was made of stone and was fifty feet wide and twenty feet tall. It was open and cold, so I was able to walk right up and touch it, running my hand along the rough interior of the furnace.

"There's no smokestack, how do you keep from choking in here when the furnace is running," Hermione asked.

"There is no fuel. The ingredients are melted by magic, as you will see if you follow me around the furnace."

As I rounded the corner, my attention was drawn to two nearly twenty-foot tall white columns, spaced just three feet apart. The columns weren't linked, but in front of them was a twenty-layer tall array of wands, linked by silver wires.

"Fifty wands in each layer, that's a thousand wands," Cissy did my arithmetic for me. "That will melt silver a lot faster than we did with eight wands. Being that close to the two columns, the wands are probably more powerful than ours were. You could launch quite a secret weapon attack if anyone was stupid enough to stand in front of that array."

That was very true. It likely would be powerful enough to kill even a major God. I had been looking at Odin and could tell that the same thought had flitted across his mind. He guided us farther into his lab, as if that would wash away the idea, before it could congeal in our heads.

Immediately on the far side of the two white columns were a series of four smaller furnaces, all in a row. An array of a hundred linked wands was directed at each of the furnaces. They also were all cold. Odin prepared to fire up the furnace farthest to my left, adding a half dozen of what I recognized as copper ingots. Hermione identified the next addition as zinc. She didn't recognize the third addition, a small silvery-looking ingot. She boldly walked over to the small pile, from which Odin had grabbed it, and hefted an ingot. She examined it with her magnifying glass, she scratched at it with a number of tools and examined her scratch marks under her magnifying glass. Odin had stopped what he was doing to stare at Hermione.

Hermione handed me the scrapings from the ingot. She 'accio'd' our perpetual flame from where we had left it in the eating room, pointed her wand at it and mumbled something I couldn't catch. The flame instantly became hotter and more intense. Hermione squinted at the flame through her magnifying glass, ordering me "toss the metal dust I gave you into the center of the flame."

I did so. Hermione immediately declared "it's as I suspected. This bar is a combination of aluminum, silicon, and a few other metals – I'm going to guess niobium and tantalum."

"That's correct," Odin replied in amazement. "Niobium is even more magical than silver, but far rarer and impossible to purify. The legends of my people say that niobium is the solidified tears of our greatest Goddesses, but that is far too fanciful to be true. If it were true, I might well have caused a doubling of my world's niobium in my younger years. You really are everything I was told that you were."

"And who told you?" Hermione boldly pressed her advantage, while Odin was still chuckling.

"I have my sources. If you must know, it was my old friend Mafalda. She thinks very highly of all of you. She told me that you are truly a band of females to be reckoned with. But, you must allow me to return to my demonstration. Let me tell you that it is very important to control the air above the melting metals. There is a magical barrier which does the trick. Everything is powered by my two white columns"

"Which are powered by the two white columns in your palace..." I prompted him.

"Yes and no. When we walk around the furnaces, you will see that I have my very own magical circle. It's behind a false magical wall."

My eagerness to see the circle detracted from my interest in Odin's metal-making exhibition. I saw that Tendra was giving rapt attention to Odin's every movement.

"May I use one of your diamonds?" Odin asked me.

Hermione dug one out of her bag and Odin chucked it into the molten metal. Tendra gasped.

Hermione pointed to a shrinking ball next to the furnace, with a thick wire running to the furnace. "It's a gas bladder," she told me. "That's how he excludes the air from above his metal. I'll bet that's argon inside the bladder."

Before Hermione could say anything else, Odin announced "It's finished! Just let me get the proper mold to pour it into."

He pointed his index finger and a heavy sled floated over to the furnace and gently lowered itself to the ground. Hermione pointed "the mold, see the opening to pour the metal into," just as Odin wagged a finger to free the molten metal from its container.

"Normally I have a team of Elves who help me run the lab. For this unusual Quest, I asked them to stay away. They are bound to me for life. It's a very necessary security precaution. They know many of my secrets. It would not do to have them meet the free female Elf daughter of an Elf King. It would not do at all. Don't frown. They have a very good life here. They are not as unfree as your house Elves were. They have their own homes and their families. It is an honor to be bound in service to a great God. Their parents bind them, when they are very young. Mine are the most highly educated Elves you'll find anywhere. The early binding is required for them to receive the particular education and training required to serve me, but…"

"But they never chose this life for themselves. They never had a chance to be free," Hermione was indignant. "Couldn't you just provide for the education of all young Elves and hire the brightest, those who desire to do this kind of work after they've learned what it's all about? That would be the just approach."

"All true. I don't keep them from Catta to prevent a revolt. They could not revolt against me, anyhow. I am too powerful for that. They could run away and I might not find them. I probably wouldn't even try to find them, but is is a matter of Elf honor. Their family signed a contract and they will abide by it. Their children are free. Really, I keep them from Catta to spare them possible pain – a view of another path which they can never follow. It would be cruel to show them that path."

"You could release them from their contract."

"I could do that, but could I trust free Elves with all the secrets of my laboratory and observatory? I have expanded upon the ancient knowledge of the Aesir Gods and Goddesses, those of our people with the ability to world walk, practice magic, and live long enough to learn enough to provide for the survival of the normal Aesir. Sorry, I can't risk destroying my own people to free a dozen Elves to live a life they might find they didn't even enjoy. They are happy working here. I see to that. There are so few Aesir left – only several thousand and not much more than a dozen of us with the special talents. We few are the protectors of what is left of my tribe. It is a heavy responsibility."

It can be difficult for even a God to stand up to the force of righteous-Hermione. Odin looked relieved when Catta commented "It doesn't sound bad for Elf workers. Much better than in our world, even after Hermione. Elfs need educations. Elfs are very smart but wasted."

Now it was Hermione who felt bad.

Odin broke the mood, leading us around the furnace to what looked like a tall wall of a very light-colored stone, running the entire width of the building. He strode forcefully toward what appeared to be a sooty smudge on the stone.

"Follow me. You must push hard, this is a strong magical barrier. The timid as well as the furnace explosions will be repulsed."

It was a strong barrier. Hermione was still dogging Odin and was the first to follow him through the barrier. She stalled half-way through. I had to give her rump a big push to get her all the way through. This slowed me so much that I needed all of my athletic power to work myself through the dense magic.

It was well worth the effort. The circle on the other side of the wall is the only one I've seen which could accurately be described as delicate, and not merely because it was so miniature. The outer row of crystals were perfectly smooth, silvery, and shaped like fantasy objects which were having trouble deciding whether they were columns, cones, or mushrooms. They were only two-and-a-half feet tall, but in that short distance their width varied from about four inches to a sharp point on top. The inner circle was made of nearly transparent crystals less than a foot tall and not quite two inches across. The crystals of both circles were linked by an elaborate tracery of fine silver, rivaling the intricacy of what the Light Guardian had left for us in the Sacred Cavern. The center stone was loosely wrapped with silver wire. It seemed to be a rich red crystal cylinder, but was less than an inch across by six inches long – far, far different from the tons of lodestone I was accustomed to.

As if reading my mind, Odin told me "the floor in this part of my lab is lodestone. I found it, moved it here, and polished it myself. It weighs fifteen thousand of your tons. Once I found it, I knew that I must play with it. That was the start of my lab."

Hermione was in competitive mode and eager to impart more knowledge than that to me. "This is very impressive materials technology. The outer circle is very, very pure silicon, the inner circle is manufactured quartz, that's a man-made, perhaps I should say God-made, ruby in the center and what looks like silver is really Odin's Silver."

"Almost the golden star," Odin told her. "I add just the tiniest amount of phosphorous to my silicon, but I congratulate you on your knowledge. If I allow you to learn too much more, I'll have to bind you to me for life."

This silenced Hermione and she drifted to the rear of our group. I realized that both Catta and Tendra, and, surprisingly, Aagog, had been close enough to hear every word and were studying the circle every bit as intently as Hermione had done. I felt that I must be insufficiently curious, although I had gotten a fairly good look at the tiny circle and had enjoyed tracing the silicon crystals with my fingers. I hadn't really made a great effort to figure out how this very different circle worked. Just as I was thinking 'bad Ginny', it struck me that it might be dangerous to learn too many of Odin's secrets. The comment about binding for life might become all too real.

Odin showed us the very beautiful and elaborate tools he used to observe and tune his little circle, pointing out that they worked on circles of any size. The circle was tuned most strangely. There were two, six-foot long oval blobs of leaked magical energy, one on either side of the central ruby. I couldn't resist walking up to one of ovals and swishing my hand through it. I could feel faint tingles crawling up my arm as I did so.

"That's your Muse's spot, yours is the other one," Odin told me.

Alright, I moved over to my own blob. There was a slight difference. The tingling felt more comfortable and satisfying.

"Is it safe for me to lie down inside the blob?" I asked Odin.

"That is its purpose," I was told, "but that also is for another day, after your training has progressed further. I fear it might be too much of a shock to your unprepared mind."

As I started to hand my viewer back to Odin, he stopped me. "That is a gift to you. It is better than what you brought with you, and its quality may be needed on the remainder of your Quest. You will use it in your training."

Hermione was a bit abashed, when Odin also gifted her with the viewer she was holding.

"I think you must save the observatory until after dinner," Frijjo told Odin. "Your test of Ginny and her unfortunate accident have ruined your schedule."

"Nonsense! The observatory is best seen at night. I had expected that Ginny's test would take every bit as much time as it did."


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-One – Fawkes Gets Sexy**

We had fifteen minutes to freshen up for dinner. Hermione's thoughts were still firmly fixed upon Elf freedom, plus the suspicion that Odin also tested the Muses who passed through his domain. She was totally energized by a blend of anger and intellectual excitement. She very much wanted to explore Odin's observatory. I interrupted her chatter with the single word: Harry.

I devoted the final five minutes of our break to lying upon my bed, Fawkes and Blacky resting upon various parts of me, and my ring-enclosed wand held against my skin. I reached out and found Harry.

I quickly told Harry of all the current events in Asgard, but then fell into silence as he relayed his news.

{[worried] There's a lot happening here. Slytherin was where you said he was, but he managed to apparate away, just as we arrived. Our apparation barriers couldn't stop him and his God-pal. They'll wonder how they were found and be far more cautious, so it will be hard to find them again. Odin's raven was correct – there were a few basilisk hatchlings that made it to the lake, apparently they're quite the delicacy at that age. We are debating how to flush the others out of the pipes.}

{{None of that is unexpected Harry. No need for so much worry.}}

{[dread] There's more. Too much more. Your mother was attacked, when she returned to the Burrow to pick up some of her cooking supplies. Three Wizards just apparated onto the lawn and started firing curses through the windows. Molly lost an ear, but she managed to fight them off and apparate to the Ministry. When your father returned with aurors, the attackers were gone and the Burrow was again just ashes. I'm sorry, that's the second time you've lost your childhood home.}

{{I never actually lived in the new Burrow.}}

{I know that, but your Dad felt it was very important to Molly and you to rebuild it just as it was. He's a little worried how you'll react to the loss}

{{I'm a lot more concerned about my mother's ear.}}

{Of course you are. I really do know that. Molly says she sees it as a chance to bond more deeply with George. I think she's more upset than she's letting on. McGonagall and Narcissa are back together and living in McGonagall's Hogwarts apartment. Don't ask me how that happened. The strangest thing is, well it's really, really strange. Now that the rules have been relaxed, Narcissa announced that she would lead her own Quest, with McGonagall as her muse. She wants to take Margaret as her young Witch. Margaret's father is furious. So is your father, for that matter. I know you have to go. Promise me you won't drink quite so much, at least while you're with Odin. Tell Hermione that Ron is fine and only slightly eager to avenge his mother.}

I promised. It actually was a polite way of telling me not to join Odin's harem. I hadn't seen signs of a harem, but I also hadn't seen all of this palace and knew that he had three others, just on this world.

I relayed the news to Hermione, as we walked down the stairs. Hermione stopped halfway down the stairs.

"That's really important. Narcissa and McGonagall starting a new Quest, while we are still engaged in ours – that's just a very spiteful thing to do. It is bound to mess us up in some way, although I guess it does mean that we won't have to travel to as many locations and will miss some challenges. Narcissa has to be the oldest prospective Mother ever. I know that self-nomination is possible, but how does she even qualify to be a Mother? We know now that she abandoned us because she knew very well what crap lay right ahead of us. How can you abandon a Quest and lead a new one, while the first Quest is still underway? She's as awful as I ever thought she was!"

"I don't know. We better get to dinner. Harry said that Narcissa is claiming that the sponsors of her Quest did not allow her to decide whether or not to go on her Quest. Voldemort said no and she didn't have a choice."

I had lingered longer than I planned, chatting with Harry and now with Hermione, Everyone was seated at the table, with food in front of them. Well, not quite everyone – our host and hostess were missing. As I prepared to sit in my assigned seat, Cho spoke "Odin wants a private conversation with the two of you. You are eating in his sleeping chamber. Hurry, you are already late."

As soon as I left the stairs, I knew the room was very different. The giant bed was pushed against a wall and a dinner table for four, with chairs, was placed next to the clear barrier wall. More obvious were the added sculptures and oil paintings on easels arrayed around the room.

Odin and Frijjo turned away from the spectacular view of sunset over the mountains to greet. They each had a mostly-empty glass of red wine in their hand. They seemed happy and relaxed.

"Is all of this your work?" I asked Odin.

"Both of ours, but mainly his," Frijjo answered. "Odin wanted you to see another side of us. But mainly, we brought them out to show to our dessert guest."

"I apologize," Odin said most unapologetically. "I am a very busy God and I had to double book tonight. The two of you are joining us for dinner and Adrienne will join for dessert and the rest of the night."

At least that probably took Hermione off the hook, but it still caught me by surprise.

"Yes," Frijjo explained, "it seemed the best way to get past our little spat was a three-some with the lovely Adrienne. It is the rare guests who fascinates both of us so intensely. But the main course it about the two of you. Let me explain the art to you."

We walked and she talked. Some of the stranger oils turned out to be strange, because the alien worlds they depicted were just strange. Most of the oils depicted people and places from my world or from Asgard, but there also was a sculpture of the creatures of LeprechaunWorld, an oil of UnicornWorld - before its mishap and ice age - and one of the surface of BeyondWorld. She parked me in front of this one.

"It's best that you absorb a bit of a sense of BeyondWorld, before you actually travel there."

"It mainly seems dark", I told her.

"Yes, think of a cloudless night with just the stars and the barest sliver of a moon. That's as bright as it gets on the surface of Beyond. There is faint artificial light – Odin's painting shows what passes for a street light in front of one of their major buildings. It doesn't throw much light. The eyes of the inhabitants of Beyond have been habituated to darkness and more light than this would cause pain."

I recognized the building as the one which we must visit. "What building is this?" I asked Frijjo.

"It's the headquarters of their fighters, and also their jail. They have few fighters, but at least a dozen are always in this building. For important events, the whole force – close to eighty beings – is present. I say beings, because they are not all shaped like us. You will find a few trolls, a couple of Giants, what appears to be an elephant, a few dementors, and even a Goblin or two. The force is headed by a minor dark God. Not a high ranking God, but you must assume that he is an expert fighter."

I froze the image of the building in my mind. It was a three-floor building, with at least one basement level, as I saw the occasional window at ankle height from the entry walk. There seemed to be a metal fence around the building, with a gate and two Wizard-looking guards at the gate. Squinting at the painting, I convinced myself that the entry walk appeared to cross a bridge over something like a moat. Apart from the two guards, the painting showed nothing else which was living.

"I have a rather delicate question. I want to get your view, before Adrienne arrives."

I froze. Was I about to hear that Adrienne hadn't agreed to the activities planned for tonight? Was I expected to defend Adrienne or agree to talk her into accepting Frijjo's invitation. Before I could ponder overly long, Frijjo led the conversation in a surprising direction.

"It's about the two phoenixes. Odin would prefer that they be allowed to share our bed tonight. Normally, I'd just speak to Adrienne, but Odin tells me the bird she carries isn't actually hers."

"No, we borrowed it from a friend in Greece to ease communications with our Keepers. Hermione owns Fawkes."

"Odin will speak to Hermione, if this conversation concludes well. Phoenixes can be very prudish creatures. As you know, they mate but once in their lifetime and it is a most serious matter. Your birds may not approve of the adventures we've planned for tonight."

"So, you want my permission to shock two easily offended birds?"

"Partly, but a bit more than that. Watching men and women in bed can excite a phoenix. We were hoping for the opportunity to arrange the mating of your two birds. We thought tonight might put them in the mood. They are extremely empathetic creatures. As I'm sure you are aware, there are almost no phoenixes left. They originate on Asgard.

"We've got a dozen on this world, but more to the point, one of our phoenixes is male. Not one in ten phoenixes is male. There aren't any at all on your world – there haven't been for a millennia. So this is the first and likely the last opportunity for poor Fawkes and Mandi. Forgive the confusion, Odin believes that every bird must have a name, so he named Mandi. I say this is their last chance, because Hijo, our male phoenix has only a few years to live. As you know, a dying phoenix will lay a golden egg and then burst into flame, to become nothing but grey ash shielding the egg from which it will be reborn.

"A male phoenix cannot be reborn, because it cannot lay an egg. It can only lay a female phoenix. The males live only a little over a hundred of your years and ours, Old Haggard, has only about a year to go. He has only sired four phoenixes in his lifetime. Female phoenixes can be extremely persnickety for a being that is rapidly going extinct. If they mate with Hijo, Fawkes and Mandi could each lay up to three extra eggs which might hatch into new phoenixes. That would be most important. Of course, you get to keep each of the first newborns, but we would expect any extras, if that is agreeable."

I mumbled that it seemed reasonable, but she really must ask Hermione. Having given my answer, I was steered toward the dinner table, where Odin was already chatting with Hermione and sharing wine with her. I hoped I wouldn't need to rescue Hermione.

"Ginny says that you may speak to Hermione about Fawkes," Frijjo told Odin. Odin did just that, leaving me to wonder why it was fine to ply me with five meads, but two elaborate negotiations and permissions were required before possibly compromising the honor of a bird.

Odin was still negotiating with Hermione, when soup arrived. It smelled like soggy hay and tasted like spiced soggy hay. The taste was so unusual, that Hermione took one sip and was startled into abandoning her conversation with Odin. "Whhwhat is that?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Obviously an acquired taste, as I told Odin," Frijjo responded. It is made from the ground covering on the first plain, which you and I explored yesterday. It is very popular among the Aesir."

"Perhaps it just caught me by surprise," Hermione replied defensively, as she sipped another spoonful of the soup.

"No, it definitely is not to my taste. As I used to tell my mother: sorry, I tried it, but I just don't like it."

If Hermione wasn't going to pretend to like the soup, I could also stop eating mine. I certainly didn't want to puke over Odin's boots a second time.

"No matter," Odin boomed cheerfully. "It certainly isn't to all tastes. I couldn't stomach it until I was an adult. The main reason for this meal together is to discuss your Quest and your training for it, not to expand your taste in food. The other courses are more typical of your world, although they are prepared Aesir style. Do you have any questions about your Quest."

"Yes, of course I do, but first I need to tell you what I just learned from Harry, about a second Quest, which is being organized right now."

Odin heard the whole tale, but seemed totally unconcerned. "It is unprecedented, but not wholly against the rules. I will not allow her to claim that your Quest is invalid, on the grounds that hers was unfairly postponed and is therefore still the rightful Quest du jour. No, I won't help her in any way. Cotto and Firenze are good and wise people. I know they messed up the start of your Quest, but that was unintentional. I can't believe they will support this current nonsense. If they do, Narcissa and your former headmaster will Quest, and I am quite sure that they will not succeed. You make too much of piffle. Let's talk about your Quest – the only Quest which is actually happening. I know you must have many questions."

"Frijjo showed me a painting of a building on BeyondWorld, which I just know we must visit, but I don't know to what purpose. Are we required to storm the jail and free its prisoners?"

"I don't know. You will have to analyze the situation you find on BeyondWorld and make your own decisions about what must be done. I don't even know who is being held prisoner in the jail. The quality of information that I receive from Beyond is not to my liking. If Sigrun is among the imprisoned, then yes, you must free her. I doubt she is in that jail. I think the whole of BeyondWorld is her prison."

"I got the sense that we must go to BeyondWorld and fight in our corporeal bodies, not as spirit warriors. Can we even survive on the surface?"

"The answer to your second question is yes, but only for a limited period of time. Water might be difficult to find and food impossible, but you can breathe the air, although it will probably make you cough. For one as prone to the barfies as you seem to be, that problem may arise at an inopportune time. I've been on the surface of that world only twice. It reeks and you stumble around in the dark over surfaces that haven't been kept up for generations. I vowed never to return. What happened on my second visit guaranteed that I cannot return. I believe I spoke of that experience."

"You were swarmed? Exactly what is that and will that be a danger to us?"

"A whole mob of angry spirits descend upon one and relentlessly attack. They obscure your vision, they jumble your thoughts, they trip you, and they suck at your brain. Imagine being attacked by a hundred of your Dementors, that's what this is like. It's awful, even for a major God.

"The first part of your previous question lies unanswered. I will tell you that this is your choice. I will also tell you that I suspect you must divide your party with half in the atmosphere as spirits and the other half on the surface of the world in their own bodies. I traveled as a body. I don't know if you will be swarmed. Surprise is your friend. It takes time to recognize an attack and to organize the swarm. You might pass unremarked for days, but once you have been labeled as a threat, the swarm will seek you out, the second you arrive on the surface or in the atmosphere of Beyond. I was labeled on my first visit. During my second trip, I had just world-walked to the surface of Beyond and walked the block to the jail building. They were upon me before that one block walk was finished. There are only a few places from which one can world-walk into Beyond. One is here on my estate. The only other entry from Asgard is inside Valhalla. You have a site inside your Ministry of Magic and a second in the submerged village of Atlantis. That was Aesir's major outpost on your world, by the way, and the confluence of many world-walking paths. I've suspected an entry point at Hogwarts, but have never found it. Yes, I've snuck around within and beneath your school more than once."

"Is it permitted for us to get help from those already at BeyondWorld: your Valkyries, Dumbledore, Fred, Lupin, Harry's parents…"

"You are forbidden nothing. Do anything that you think may work. I am not playing the sort of artificial game that Firenze set for you. I need my Valkyrie. I will forgive you anything you do to bring them to me. Destroy all of Beyond, if that is your wont. There is an evil presence there. It opposes me and the Light Guardian. It controls the swarm and likely the jail you saw is under its control."

Hermione asked "I take it that if we can't learn to world-walk, that we must ride in on unicorns."

"Yes, although that is not at all the preferred approach. Each Unicorn can carry at most two of you and the second must be tiny. Beyond is literally death to Unicorns. Even without the taint of the present evil, the atmosphere will choke the life out of them within two days. After one day, they will not be able to carry you back. They'll have trouble returning themselves. To be safe, if a Unicorn is expected to walk two of you out of Beyond, then your stay is limited to twelve hours, preferably six. If you can learn to world-walk, I believe that all but the oldest of your group can maintain your health in a condition that at least permits you to walk away from that accursed place, if you don't try to stay beyond four days. I guarantee you will not survive a week."

This was going to be our nicest stop yet. The evil part of my brain shouted 'leave it for Narcissa and McGonagall,' but my sense of duty would not permit such treasonous thoughts to linger.

Chops of some kind had arrived, accompanied by root vegetables and red wine. I partook of everything offered and was impressed by the quality. It was what my mother would have called 'basic English seasoning', but the taste eased my home-sickness and made my surrounding seem more normal.

"About your training – I think it takes about a week—you must become very intimate with my little circle, the white pillars, your birds, and the Unicorns. Yes, you must include the phoenixes in the training. They can be a great help to you. If they are carrying fertilized eggs, they will be obsessed with returning you and themselves safely from Beyond. Your training has three parts. You must communicate with the beasts. You must communicate with the stones and crystals. Finally, you must convince your mind that walking between the worlds is as simple and logical as pushing your way through the barrier to catch the Hogwarts Express. It is all a matter of conditioning the mind, provided the proper inheritance was received from your parents. Most highly magical Witches can learn to do this. It is rare for a Mother or Muse not to possess the ability. You simply must truly believe the impossible and allow your determined mind to guide your feet.

"Those among your team who cannot learn to walk between worlds must either be spirit warriors or ride a Unicorn into battle. For those without the inborn talent to world-walk, either of these options are honorable. What is not honorable is to possess the inherited skill and not work hard enough to master the talent. Tomorrow you begin to work very hard.

"The circle has one other purpose. You saw the glowing ovals. They are re-charging points. You can lie within them and soak in magical energy. You can pre-load enough magic into your person to last for several hours in Beyond. The ovals also aid the healing of wounds and sickness, speed learning and communication with the white columns, and greatly reduce the effects of aging. One can create the same anti-aging potion, while lying there, as one can brew from a Philosopher's Stone. That is the secret to the extreme longevity of Frijjo and me. You can even charge up your wands and your magical swords within the ovals. I have tuned them for you, so the two of you must go first, but they will also serve your companions. I will take the full measure of your Adrienne tonight, and will tune one of the ovals so that she and the most lovely Cho can train along-side you. I look forward to becoming better acquainted with your Cho."

I didn't know how to respond. In my confusion what babbled out was "Aagog will also want to learn to world-walk. She bites."

This brought a scowl from Odin and a slightly brittle laugh from Frijjo. Hermione signaled me to put my wine down. I knew she was right, so I stranded my half-finished fourth glass as far from me as my arm would reach.

As soon as our dinner plates were cleared away by non-Elf staff, Adrienne ascended the stairs to join us. She was wearing her 'impress the Gods' attire and radiating her full Siren appeal. Whatever was going down tonight, Adrienne seemed totally on-board with us.

We shared a honey-poached pear with Adrienne and our hosts. It was a most unusual honey, undoubtedly from most unusual flowers. Adrienne finished the remains of my dinner wine, all of my dessert wine, plus all of hers. I wished her a pleasant night, as Hermione and I departed.

"We will have to do the observatory tomorrow night," Odin unnecessarily informed us, after we set goodnight to him and Frijjo.

We walked past the level holding our bedrooms and re-entered the eating room, hoping to find the rest of our team. At least some of them were still present.

I had an extra dessert as we brought the team up to date on what we had learned from Harry and from Odin.

"The Narcissa Quest is a serious problem," Barb stated as fact. "I'm sure she wants to sabotage us. She is linked to Azkaban, as is the dark God or whatever sabotaged our White Stone. She pretended not to be getting along with McGonagall. Harry really needs to speak to Draco. He may have an ideal about his mother's ultimate goals."

"Harry and Ron need to find out who she's been talking to. Has she had contact with an envoy of Slytherin?" Hermione suggested.

That was a dark place which my mind had yet to visit.

"I understand that Odin plans to get to know you a lot better," I addressed Cho.

"Yes, he does. I plan to hide behind Frijjo. No wine for me while we're here."

"When will I get to practice world-walking?" Cissy asked. "It sounds like great fun, although the destination sounds none too pleasant."

Jaden suddenly had a thought which greatly agitated her. "You must make certain that Harry prevents my daughter from recruiting horcrux-me for her Quest. I just KNOW that this would be disastrous for everyone. I think there are some worlds which we cannot occupy at the same time, but it is more than that. We will need the other Jaden ourselves."


	33. Chapter 33

Note: the prior chapter was split, but the name 'Odin's Observatory'remained with the first half of the chapter. I will change that.

**Chapter Thirty-Two – Odin's Observatory**

I checked in with Harry to let him know all that had happened and everything we learned. Harry was not at all pleased with my update. I'll just give you the most important comments.

{[Almost angry] You should have stopped Adrienne. You were warned how dangerous it is for a Quester to have sex with a God. I'm glad it wasn't you and I know Adrienne is hard to control, but it sounds like you didn't even try. Arthur won't be happy. Tony keeps close tabs on your Quest.}

{I'm glad you'll only be on Beyond for less than a day, but it's not comforting to learn that you can't survive even a week there. That swarming thing sounds really nasty. We'll have to think of something to fight the swarm. I doubt it likes Unicorns or Patronuses, but it sounds like you won't be able to maintain a Patronus or fully protect the Unicorns.}

{McGonagall is trying to recruit horcrux Jaden for their Quest.}

To the last comment, I basically yelled back at Harry that it was his duty to stop this. I told him that my team would be in great danger if horcrux Jaden joined the Narcissa/McGonagall Quest. Harry promised to use Dad, Shacklebolt, and Tony as necessary to stop horcrux Jaden from Questing. I also irrationally berated him for failing to protect my mother, since he was the guy with all the aurors.

Harry's apology struck me as lame: {you know they can't be everywhere and Molly told nobody but McGonagall that she was even going to visit the Burrow. It was a spur of the moment, she wanted to cook a particular stew, kind of thing.}

Harry switched right back to the messages he wanted to, or was supposed to, pass along to me.

{McGonagall says they are going on their Quest 'to reduce the risk to Ginny and her friends. We seek nothing for ourselves. You really should trust us'. That level of generosity from Narcissa is hard to credit.}

Even though I had been a bit crabby with Harry, I was hurt and surprised when he neglected to sign off with his typical 'I love you Ginny'. That really upset me. How could I miss Harry so achingly much and yet not have a more loving conversation with him? How could I accuse him of being responsible for my mother's lost ear. It was really tough being here, when I knew how much Mom needed me. I was doing what I was doing for the sake of my whole community. Couldn't my community at least refrain from trying to murder Mom while I was away at something very much like war? It was unfair to blame Harry, but I had left him in charge.

Hermione was apparently already sleeping, when I yelled across to her "I still can't believe some bastard actually cursed off my Mom's ear!"

Hermione was startled awake and asked me to repeat what I had said. She was remarkably calm, telling me that she also missed her husband and her normal life, and that it must be even more frustrating to an active fighter-type like me to helplessly far away, when bad things happen. I think she realized there was more to my mood than that. For good or for bad, she seemed determined to keep me talking and an awful lot of awful spewed out of me.

"I'm a bad leader. If you and Cho hadn't protected me, I'd have cheated on Harry with Odin. Dad warned me of too much sherry. I'm supposed to protect you, not the other way around."

"We're supposed to protect each other. You know you're not a bad leader. You've gotten us this far, despite a lot of really bad trouble. You stood up to Firenze for us. I know how much you idolize Firenze."

"I've let Adrienne go off to Odin, in place of me, just because I couldn't bring myself to cheat on Harry to save our world. I love Harry, but... I'm sure Scathach had someone she loved, waiting for her back home. She willingly surrendered herself to Baal to save her team. Her lover must have been long dead by the time she got away from Baal. I don't think I could do that. I'm not as strong as Scathach."

I really hate crying, especially in front of other people, but I just couldn't help myself. I started crying - harder and harder. After she managed to hug me into almost calmness, Hermione told me that I had just kept repeating 'I'm awful, Harry doesn't love me any more. They cursed my mother's ear!' I had thought I was handling the Quest so well, but I had proven myself to be a mess. I thanked Hermione for putting up with me. She told me that it was all part of the job description for a Muse or a friend. I went back to trying to sleep. I had to use an ancient Witch charm plus whale song to force myself to fall to sleep.

I awoke tired and angry at the room for forcing out of bed, into my clothes, and down the stairs to breakfast. It is no fun being bullied by your bedroom. Our hosts were absent, but Adrienne took Odin's spot, so that she could talk with me. I assume she had his permission.

"I'm fine. I enjoyed last night. I don't want to repeat it, but I was strongly attracted to Frijjo. I think I've successfully diverted Odin's attention from the rest of you, although perhaps Cho should be careful. Don't look sad. There's a reason you brought a Siren on this Quest. I did my duty and I am none the worse for it. I'm your resident wild child grown up. Odin wanted me to check in with you, before he and Frijjo join us for breakfast. He's bringing the male phoenix. Our two phoenixes did seem to get quite excited watching us last night. Then I guess they had seen too much, and flew away to stare out the window."

Breakfast was fruit, honey, a very fragrant but quite tasty bread baked with honey, and the local tea, which didn't taste a whole lot like English tea. Not knowing the day's schedule, I forced myself to eat more than I felt inclined to consume. I am not pleasant to be around when overly hungry and knew that I needed to watch my behavior around Odin and Frijjo.

Adrienne slipped out of the Odin seat and Mafalda took her place.

"Don't worry, Adrienne will be fine and I'm quite sure that Odin won't bother the rest of you. He's very devoted to Frijjo. He allows himself some variety every century or so. More than that, he needs our help. The situation with the Valkyrie truly is desperate. There is a mini-revolt brewing in Valhalla, because they feel cheated of the spirits of their fellow fallen warriors. It weakens Valhalla and its inhabitants. Spirits fade over time, so new blood is essential. The residents of Valhalla also believe that the fallen from the Voldemort wars haven't received their due honor. While you were touring Odin's lab, Barb and I visited an old friend of mine to find out exactly what is going on. No, I've not been here before, but she has visited me in our world. She assures me that Odin needs our help and means to help us in return. There are two Valkyrie left on this world, but they've lost contact with Sigrun. I gave them the news of what Sigrun told us. The two Valkyrie want to meet with you. They are at Valhalla. By the way the mating of the phoenixes is important to both our worlds. They are almost as important as the Unicorn. I hear footfall on the stairs and must leave this seat."

Odin had his phoenix with him.

"Bring your birds," he ordered. "They're shy. We are going to have to shut them up in their own room all day. As excited as they all are, they won't do a thing until they're certain we aren't watching. That usually takes hours. They're cautious as well as shy."

Hermione took Fawkes and I grabbed the Greek phoenix, thinking it best to keep Adrienne apart from Odin. We followed him down the stairs. It appeared as though the birds were to be given the throne room for the day.

"Just put your bird down on the dais, turn and walk away, as I am about to do," Odin instructed. He deposited his bird. Hermione followed him and I followed Hermione. It took all of five minutes from eating room to throne room and back to eating room.

We spent the day clustered around the white pillar linked to Durmstrang. The only birds we had to work with were Blacky and the owls. We did as best we could. Everyone took a turn lying upon the floor, curled around the column, and trying to establish contact with first the Durmstrang white column, then the Azkaban White Stone, then our own Black Stone, then a bird. Results were very mixed. Hermione and I were fully successful. Except for Aagog, everyone else at least made some contact with Odin's white column. Cho was largely successful and for some reason Adrienne was able to establish a close rapport with several of the birds, including Blacky.

Aagog was the last participant. I was so surprised, whe she fairly quickly announced that she was talking directly to the Black Stone, that I blurted "How?" I instantly regretted that comment, which sounded in my own mind as if I was questioning Aagog's honesty. Fortunately, in her great excitement, she had not taken offense and answered me very matter of factly.

"I do it my way, through the circle in Chamber of Secrets. Many of those stones are my old friends from our home cave. I speak to them all my life. Why should I talk through other columns and circles, when I know this one so well?"

Why, indeed.

This created a rush of others, who wanted to try their luck with their favorite stone or circle. As others had success, I realized how stupid my instructions to my team had been. Of course Cissy and Tendra were bound to have more success in contacting the circle in the Sacred Cavern than they did contacting stones at Durmstrang or Azkaban. Catta was able to reach the Black Stone directly, without consciously using an intermediary. The others left frowning as we returned to the eating room for dinner. I was happy for my big breakfast, since lunch was only the snacks we had shoved into our pockets or that Hermione had extracted from her magical bag.

Dinner was a slow affair. We detoured before dinner, because Odin had waited for us to check in on the phoenixes. I couldn't tell, but Odin hadn't come within twenty feet of any phoenix, before proclaiming "our mission was a resounding success. We can expect the laying of fertile phoenix eggs in three weeks."

I was more surprised, when Hermione confirmed "Odin is correct. What? I've established quite a rapport with Fawkes. Fawkes reported to me for his Greek pal."

I avoided the wine with dinner, but Odin, Frijjo, Adrienne, and even Mafalda all consumed very large quantities. Pegasus slurped up a whole bottle of mead. The rest of my team followed my example.

Cissy promised "I'll watch Adrienne for you. She's my friend and I don't want her surrendering herself to Odin again. It was probably as bad as the time she spent with my brother. I'm surprised you made her do it."

"Really… no, honestly I didn't ask her to do anything. She likes Frijjo. Apparently Odin was just part of the bargain. But yes, please watch her. I'll ask Barb to keep a special eye on Cho."

"I'm afraid for Margaret," Cissy told me. "McGonagall and Narcissa won't even try to protect her, like you protect us. Margaret will be in great danger on the Quest. She doesn't have any of her Joan of Arc relics. We have them with us. She fights much better with her relics. She convinces herself that she is the spirit of Joan, then she is very brave. If she has to just be Margaret, she is going to be afraid. She's always fought with Neville or us by her side. And what about poor Barb. McGonagall is supposed to be her Keeper. Who will protect her spirit if McGonagall shirks her duty. Barb just accepted McGonagall as Keeper in order to be kind and to avoid a big fight. It isn't fair."

"I assured her that Harry and my Dad were working to keep Margaret away from Narcissa's Quest. I promised her that Harry would find a substitute Keeper for Barb, reminding her that we would return home, before we traveled to BeyondWorld. Odin had promised that."

"If you believe him, then that's fine," Cissy told me. "He reminds me too much of my father for me to be able to trust him. He badly needs our help. Is he going to risk our not returning, if he allows us a trip back to our world?"

That was a new fear and one I needed to take seriously. Cissy did often have a certain intuition which kept her relatively safe. A thought came to mind and I asked her "have your truthteller skills caused you to distrust Odin?"

"Not really. I don't detect lies, but I do get the feeling that he is hiding a lot from us. It's just that he's very powerful, very used to getting exactly what he wants, and frightened to be separated from his Valkyrie. Odin isn't used to fear. When he spoke of the swarm, he went completely cold. The swarm is more powerful than Odin. We should fear it."

"I do."

The tour of the observatory was very interesting. There was a very large telescope and a much smaller one, which was still much larger than what I had used for Firenze's class. Odin showed us BeyondWorld through the telescope. He also showed us our own world, or at least our world's star.

"It's hard to put your mind around it, isn't it," he asked Hermione. "So far away, and yet you can reach these worlds with just a dozen steps, if you know how, and start from the right spot. I've spoken to scientists from your world. Apparently, we walk through another dimension, where these worlds curve around to meet us. It's too complicated for a poor, ancient God. I only know that it works and that you feel a wave of shivers, starting at your lead foot and traveling through your whole body, at the point where you leave my world for the intermediate world and a repetition of the shivers when you leave that world for Beyond."

The observatory held other wonders. Odin did have electricity and an other-worldly computer, looking not at all like our own – it looked like a Bludger with silver wires coming out of it and what I recognized as an electrical supply wire running into it. This computer pointed Odin's telescopes for him and tracked the motions of hundreds of stars and constellations, also very different from those in our sky, based upon Odin's personal observations. There were also instruments for recording and predicting the weather, Odin's equivalent of a Muggle cell phone, a very, very deep wellhead to what Odin described as 'an under-ground lake, more than one of your miles beneath us, and filled with the most marvelous fishes, which glow in the dark and are even tastier than the ones I catch in my stream'. There was a hoist with a lot of rope positioned over the well-head, which I realized was wide enough for Odin to be lowered to the lake by his servants.

"Well, you have seen my greatest treasures. There likely is nothing left at my palace to show to you.

"Surely you must have a great library," Hermione declared. "May I see it? I have been unable to do as much research as I desire or as I fear is needed, while on this Quests. I keep encountering important questions, which I am unable to answer, yet I believe our safety and the success of this Quest depend upon my finding the correct answers."

"What do you wish to know? I have studied many things and may well be able to point you toward the answers you seek within one of my manuscripts."

"I feel that I must identify the dark God who helped the Dementors to survive. I certainly must learn more of BeyondWorld and that jail from the painting and the swarm which attacked you. I must learn how Salazar Slytherin is still alive, who knew he was alive, and if, as I suspect, it was at least partly done with horcruxes, then I must find a clue to point us to those horcruxes. I also have some theories about world-walking, which I'd like to explore."

"There are many dark Gods among the worlds I visit. I've met none old enough or bold enough to shackle the White Stone, while its master, the Light Guardian, was just few hundred miles away and beside the Black Stone which is linked to the White. I fear that must be the work of our Light Guardian's nemesis, whose name translates from the Aesir roughly as 'The Bringer of Chaos'. I've not met him and know nobody who has. Some legends say he perished long ago at the hand of our Light Guardian and the other bright Gods. Other legends say he retreated to the Egyptian underworld, their land of the dead. It would not surprise me if he has found his way to Beyond. That would explain a lot. That jail is the only fortified building upon the surface of Beyond. It is one of less than a dozen total structures on the surface. It is the stronghold of whomever controls Beyond. Depending upon who that whomever is, it is either just a jail and center of administration or it is a place of infinite darkness and suffering. Of course Slytherin had horcruxes. What else makes any sense at all? The swarm are a gang or army of the darkest spirits in Beyond. Beyond collected many dark warriors, because the bravest, strongest, and most righteous warriors were brought to me at Valhalla by my faithful Valkyrie. For the rest of your questions, my library is at your disposal. I will take you to it right after breakfast."

I couldn't wait to get to bed, so that I could message Harry.

{{We have to do better on these nightly talks. I know I was nasty to you about not protecting my mother. Of course you couldn't stop that. I was just upset. Please forgive me. When you didn't say that you loved me at the end of our conversation last night, it really upset me. I cried for an hour. Hermione had to hug me, before I could stop. My talks with you are my lifeline to sanity and home. I have to totally feel that you still love me or I won't be able to go on. Things can get really tough on a Quest. BeyondWorld is going to be super scary. I need to know that I can lean on you.}}

{[worried] Of course you can depend on me. How can you doubt that I love you. I will always love you. I was angry last night, so I guess I just didn't say it. I'm very sorry.}

Most of the rest of the chat was my reading a long note that Hermione wanted Harry to give to Ron. It ended with Hermione saying she would talk to Ron through the Black Stone tomorrow. She missed him and really needed to talk to him, but he must remember not to say anything secret through the Black Stone. This would be a chat to make them both feel better, not a business chat.

I thought that was a good idea and told Harry that we also were not currently engaged in a business chat. For once, this would be entirely about us - not what Dad, or Shacklebolt, or Tony wanted to learn from me or insisted that I do, or even reports of problems back home, which I couldn't possibly deal with from here.

Harry agreed, but at the end he did insist upon telling me that Mom was happy and doing well. Although she would be missing a third of an ear, her hearing was fine and her hair covered the ear. I was glad he told me that. I was less glad to learn that McGonagall had picked Irma, the young exchange student whom I had embarrassed in front of Herr Schwein, as her young Quest team member. I was happy that Margaret was safe, but worried that Irma would be getting even more grief, because of coming to Hogwarts. I was also not sure what to think about how much McGonagall had obviously taken over Narcissa's Quest.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty-Three – Training and Research**

A week turned out to be a very optimistic estimate of the time needed to train my team to world-walk and prepare for what was likely to be an invasion and contested escape from BeyondWorld. We spent fifteen days, with nobody slacking off, before Odin and I felt that we were all prepared. Since Hermione was doing research as well as training, she actually had a tougher fortnight than I did. There were very long hours, with a mind-numbing amount of repetition. This was especially true for Hermione and me, since we had to evaluate each team member as they worked through the drills, being both very encouraging, but also insistent about exactly what they must do differently in order to improve. The Questers who weren't actively drilling were able to rest or joke around with each other. Aagog lightened the mood of my troops with her spider acrobatics.

Not everyone needed much training. Brighid, the Cailleach, and Scathach assured me that they already knew how to world-walk. They were about to prove it to me by walking to the intermediate world between Asgard and BeyondWorld, when Hermione objected. "We can't be certain that the path-world between Asgard and BeyondWorld is safe."

"That is true," Odin reinforced Hermione's warning. "You should practice walking to the world-to-Durmstrang. I know that is safe. I don't know if the obstacle to my Valkyrie lies on BeyondWorld, world-to-Beyond, or both. You will have to enter world-to-Beyond with all your forces and prepared for mortal combat."

My three experienced world-walkers walked all the way to Durmstrang and back, bringing a written message from Viktor to Cho as proof of their passage. It was mainly a love note, but also said that Viktor and the Monsieur DelaCour were actively hunting for Slytherin, with Viktor's most trusted aurors remaining on guard at the Durmstrang Circle and its reception hall.

In theory I didn't need to have everybody learn to world-walk. I could split the group, with some traveling to the atmosphere as spirit warriors, while the rest of us walked onto the surface of BeyondWorld in our own bodies. My concern was that the jail looked like a very tough target and I feared that I would need every available body and then some additional help or minor miracle to capture it, free its prisoners, and escape alive. We would need to contact the Valkyrie, likely in the upper atmosphere as we did before, but I felt that task could be assigned to those not on my Quest team. A party from Hogwarts could travel by way of the Black Stone, if the Black Stone could be made reliable. This was the one area where I was likely to put our helpers at greater risk. From Asgard, we could launch spirit warriors without the help or knowledge of the Black Stone. The Hogwarts spirit warriors would be at the mercy of the Black Stone and the evil one who sometimes seized control of it.

We reached the point where only Tendra, Aagog, Barb, and, most surprisingly, Mafalda could not world-walk. Aagog, and possibly Tendra, could ride a Witch out of BeyondWorld, if our adventure turned to crap, but Mafalda and Barb would definitely have to ride a Unicorn to escape if they traveled to BeyondWorld in bodily form. Mafalda wasn't a big deal. I thought she might be more valuable as a spirit warrior in contact with the flying Valkyrie. This could save me having to risk Harry at BeyondWorld. I explained to Mafalda why she was so valuable as a spirit warrior and the added danger to her if she entered BeyondWorld in her body. She was adamantly opposed.

"That just won't work and you know it. Besides filling the role of old Quester, I'm here for two reasons. I've already introduced you to Odin, but my main purpose on this Quest is to get you past BeyondWorld. I feel that I must go, or the rest of you will die there. The old are more comfortable in the Beyond. I also won't be distracted by anyone I crave to revisit in BeyondWorld. I know that I will be with them soon enough and, except for a few old Priestesses whom I was friendly with decades ago, there really is nobody I desperately miss. My parents and I never got along. I've had no lovers. I volunteered as first to depart the realm of the living."

I finally convinced her that her special skills were most needed in the air and that she shouldn't assume that this was not without its own dangers, as she would be the spirit warrior who might be summoned to the surface, if the need arose and if I could communicate with the spirit warriors. I told her that I needed her to negotiate with the Valkyrie and to lead the spirit warriors who would arrive from Hogwarts. She finally agreed to be a spirit warrior. Barb would not agree.

"I'm an auror and my job is to protect you. I can't do that if you're a body on the surface and I'm a spirit in the air. I'll just have to take my chances on the surface. That's what a good auror does. As you well know, I was perfectly willing to be listed as the first to leave our realm. I'm not frightened by the danger. We all knew this Quest would be very dangerous. You will need your best fighters on the surface. That's me. Next to Scathach and possibly yourself, I'm our best fighter."

I agreed that Barb would travel with the world-walkers.

Training and Hermione's research yielded surprises. To train, we had to first commune with the White Column, then spend an hour in one of the magical ovals charging up, then return to the White Column to attempt to step into the in-between-Durmstrang world. The quick learners made it to in-between-Durmstrang world and back with only two or three sessions in an oval. Those who couldn't learn, namely Barb and Mafalda, spent several dozen sessions in the oval. Although our time in the ovals left all of us feeling refreshed and super-charged with strength, it had a very profound physical effect upon Mafalda. By the time I abandoned thoughts of teaching her to world-walk, Mafalda had come to look several decades younger and her arthritis had left her. She also claimed to remember more ancient Witch lore, which had eluded her mind in recent years.

Hermione had started to research what we could do to increase the survival time of ourselves and the transport Unicorns on the surface of BeyondWorld. This had led to information on the quite grim surface conditions: heavy, humid, polluted air like the old London death smogs; temperatures varying from 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit; light levels varying from that of a clear night with the faintest crescent moon to totally overcast with no moon; no animals; no living vegetation beyond ravenous fungi that fed upon the spongy muck of the ground and the carcases of long dead trees; and a distant dead sea. This prompted Hermione to ask herself: how could the jail's guards and prisoners possibly survive the week if they are live bodies. Her conclusion was inescapable. They could not possibly be live bodies, as we know such things to be. They might be some sort more substantial sort of inferiori or ghost. Ghost was possible. When we had encountered Harry's parents and Dumbledore in the upper atmosphere of BeyondWorld, they had looked like wispy versions of themselves, but definitely as themselves and with more solidity than Peeves possessed.

Hermione always follows her investigations to their ultimate conclusion. She wanted to know in precisely what form we would world-walk to the surface of BeyondWorld and precisely what part of us would stay behind. She wanted to know how the traveling part of us would fight and exactly what would be required to kill the inferiori or super ghosts, or whatever those beings were which guarded the BeyondWorld jail. As a puzzled Hermione worked her way through this line of inquiry one night, as we each lay upon our beds, my comment was "shouldn't Odin know all of this and shouldn't he have told us?"

"Yes, that bothers me a lot," Hermione answered. "That and the difficulty in finding the necessary answers in his library are the source of my extreme frustration, which you must have observed these past two days. Thank you for not commenting on the obvious."

"I'll ask Odin tomorrow," I had promised her.

Odin hadn't been totally helpful. "Yes, world-walking is just what the words mean, you literally walk from one world to another. It's no different than when you cross through to platform 6-3/4. There is no part of you that is left behind. All of you: mind, body, spirit boards the train to Hogwarts. I don't know how to kill the guards at the Beyond jail. Incapacitating them for a few hours is really all that is necessary, but I've never actually done that, either. I sought only information and a very special purple crystal during my two trips to Beyond. I didn't plan to fight anyone and I didn't. On my first visit, I passed the jail guards without challenge. On my second trip, I had almost reached the guards, close enough that they would have challenged me, if that were their intent, but they did not. As I explained before, it was the swarm that attacked me. I don't know if I harmed, or even killed, any of them. I used magic against them, until my magic ran out. It was powerful magic and it may have killed. There were so many of them that they blocked my vision and confused my senses, confused my very thoughts. Perhaps I just panicked, but I think they exerted direct control over my mind. Wherever I turned, they were there blocking my way. It was like every little movement was forcing my way past a very strong magical barrier. To move three paces was beyond exhausting. I'm not sure if I could have walked out of there on my own. In my groping about, I found one of my Unicorns and managed to mount it. That reliable beast walked me home. I don't even remember passing through the intermediate world. My mind was too confused. I couldn't think. It was light again and the swarm had stayed behind in Beyond – it must have done – but my mind didn't save any details. I came to my senses in my bed, with Frijjo tending to me. I had left Asgard with four Elves and three Unicorns. One Unicorn and myself were the only part of that party to make it home."

His response raised many questions in my head. "You said that you passed the guards. Did you enter the jail?"

"No. I made it across the bridge and to the door. The door was opened. I requested entry, telling the guard that I was the mighty Odin. The guard left me wedged between the outer door and an inner door, which was shut in my face, when the guard went deeper into the jail to ask its master if I could be admitted. I waited in a space barely large enough for me to turn sideways for what seemed like a half hour, only to be told through a little slit in the inner door that I must go away and not return unless I brought the payment with me. I asked how the guard could know that I lacked the payment. The guard told me that those who had the payment presented it as soon as the outer door was opened to them. Explaining that I was unaware of the custom, I said I would gladly return with the payment, if he told me what was required. He said that I must give him a flawless diamond the size of a pea, but that I would be wasting my time and my diamond, if I didn't have another flawless diamond twice that size to present to his master, when he brought me to him. If I expected any help, that would require additional diamonds, depending upon the value of help I needed. Apparently the normal request was a plea to free some poor wretch from the jail or from Beyond, itself. Apparently that requires a whole bag of diamonds."

"What is the purple crystal Why is it important, and where is it? Why do I get an inkling that our mission is related to this purple crystal?"

"It is a dazzlingly cut purple diamond the size of a hen's egg. Despite the impurities which give it the purple color, it is otherwise flawless. It is said to have formerly been the property of the Light Guardian, although he has never told me so. It is very valuable, because it is the perfect central gem of a new type of magical circle which I wish to build. A circle of such power and majesty that it can radiate its magical influence across distant worlds. It is what I need to freely travel to and remotely observe the dozen destination worlds of my larger domain. Where is it? I don't know. I thought on Beyond, perhaps even within the jail, but I do not know anything for certain. Yes, it would be great if you brought me that diamond, although that is not your mission and I would not have mentioned it, had you not asked. I would be so grateful that I would willingly bypass half a dozen stops on your Quest and send you straight to the final two. You should find those stops pleasurable, enlightening, and not very dangerous at all."

"I asked because you did mention the diamond in passing."

"Yes, I suppose I did. It does relate tangentially to your mission. I did not send my Valkyrie to Beyond to find this gem, but I suspect that Sigrun went on her own in order to test her valor and to delight me with the gift of the stone. I also suspect that coming in contact with the diamond may in some way bind a person to Beyond. This is just a surmise, based on some obscure parchments in my library. I'll point your Muse toward them tomorrow."

"You have no inkling at all about disabling or killing these super ghosts?"

"They're already dead. If I had a great trick to disable the guards and especially the swarm, I'd have returned in person. From my research, if I found a way around the swarm, I had planned to test my equivalent of what you call the Imperius Curse upon the guards. That was to be a last resort. I think it best to prevent them from seeing you. They report to the swarm – I'm certain of that much, although I don't know how long it takes them to report. I suspect that it takes many hours."

Hermione found all of that useful and promised to read the relevant parchments. "I didn't miss them, I simply didn't find them. It is a very large library. Odin has thousands of books, a thousand bound illuminated manuscripts, ten thousand parchments, as many clay tablets filled with writing, plus several hundred large flat stones covered with ancient runes. There are also many tens of thousands of stored memories, which can be viewed on a device very similar to, but much more convenient than our pensieve. The filing is very idiosyncratic. Even with Frijjo's help, I've only scratched the surface and only one of a hundred records I look at is of any value to our Quest. I did find an unrelated something, which I found interesting."

"Do tell."

"That very deep and very wide well in Odin's observatory is a very ancient well said to hold enormous knowledge. Legend says that half of what Odin knows came from 'drinking the water of the well, Mimisbrunnr. The well goes down half a mile to an underground lake, which is over a thousand feet deep and extends for miles. There is a small sand beach around one side of the lake and a secret entrance beside the little river that plunges down the mountain beside this palace. The legend I read says that an experience world-walker can walk along the beach of this lake and enter other worlds. One can reach two different worlds, depending upon the direction you walk. The legend also said one can swim to two other worlds, depending upon the direction in which you swim. Swimming away from the well takes you to a place which sound very much like the dead sea of BeyondWorld."

"That might be very relevant to our mission."

"I couldn't think of a way to apply this information. I'll research if further, if you wish."

I told her that she already had more than enough to do and I wouldn't add to her 'to-do' list.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter Thirty-Four – The Battle Plan**

We were scheduled to have a final breakfast in Asgard, before returning home to visit with our spouses and get the advice from our Keepers and other advisors in formulating a battle plan to free the Valkyrie from BeyondWorld. Odin wouldn't let us depart without a pep talk, advice and a new assignment.

"I am pleased that so many of you have learned to world-walk. I know this isn't an easy skill to learn. It means we have much in common. We are among the less than a thousand beings in all the known worlds, who possess the world-walking skill. I think this proves that most of you have Aesir blood flowing through your veins and our my distant cousins. Perhaps not you Catta. Cantring may have a bit of Unicorn or Aesir blood. We once had a small herd of Centaurs living among the Aesir – legend says the product of highly inappropriate matings with Unicorns. We were a pastoral people then and young shepherds will do what they do.

"You have already improved our worlds by building and repairing magical circles – even those you were tricked into working on can be positive forces going forward, now that their dark purpose is behind them. I encourage you to maintain them. I have spoken to your Black Stone. It is once again mostly in control of itself, although neither it nor I can explain what went wrong. I will tell you what you must do, knowing that you are already aware of this need, but have been avoiding action. You must become more fully one with the Black Stone than you have ever been before. This is not without danger. That Stone is very powerful and if it is not in control of itself during your visit, it could overwhelm and destroy you. Several of you must become one with the stone together. That gives you the best chance, both to protect each other and to learn the secrets of the evil entity which stole control of your Stone. This is a necessary step to complete before it is safe to travel to Beyond. You still have much training to survive Beyond, and much of it involves your Stone helping you.

"Enjoy your time at home. Finish fixing the Durmstrang Circle and its White column. Work on your spirit warrior skills. Those back home may know more than I do about killing a super ghost or variant inferiori, or whatever those jail guards are. You've dealt with Dementors, perhaps you can deal with the swarm. Fix Beyond and you fix Valhalla and Asgard, and a lot more that I sincerely believe will benefit your world. Beyond has been an increasing problem. If not dealt with, it could finish us all. I have faith in your ability to do what must be done. You've learned to world-walk faster than any group of non-Aesirs I've ever encountered. That is an excellent omen. Enjoy your breakfast. I expect that it will be several weeks before I see you again, and then you will invade Beyond. I have what I hope will be a pleasant surprise to you. Frijjo is determined to accompany you to Beyond. I would never permit her to do this if I expected your mission to fail. Frijjo will lead you to the world-walking point which takes you home, right after you finish breakfast."

"Excuse me," Hermione interjected. "I still have several more hours of research that I must do in your library. It is important information for the planning we must do when we return home. I was just beginning to research the Black Stone and …"

"Of course. You can leave after a late lunch. I'll take the time to introduce your friends to spirit travel from the second of my White Columns. I was going to save that for your return, but it can't hurt to give a taste of that training."

I went off with Odin, while Hermione headed for the library. It was a little different becoming a spirit to be transported by the White Column. We had to lie within Odin's miniature circle and reach for the White Column. Those lying inside the magical ovals carried a magical bird and initiated the path for the others. In Hermione's absence, that became Adrienne and me. I was surprised to find Hermione's oval tuned for Adrienne. Odin must have been practicing with her last night. This became apparent as Adrienne was consistently a step and a half ahead of me. We had to visualize the spiral path reaching out to us here, at the same time we visualized the other end of that path snaking all the way to our destination. In this case, the chosen destination was Valhalla on Asgard.

I was summoning the spiral path, but not having a great deal of success, when I saw it appear, with Adrienne atop its leading edge. I reached out and pulled the edge a little closer so that the rest of us could mount the spiral. Only Mafalda, Barb, Cissy, Aagog, and Catta were making the trip with us. The others were filling the Keeper role, as the guards over our spirit-less carcases. We reached Durmstrang's circle. We surprised Viktor's guards as we lit up the cavern with our Patronuses. We didn't linger. I didn't feel safe with my body back on Asgard.

This time I led the charge onto the spiral path and moments later, we were re-united with our bodies. It was time for lunch. I hoped that Hermione had been as successful as we had been.

Hermione used every library minute at her disposal, arriving to lunch after we had finished the soup course and her cold soup had been waved away by a disdainful Odin. As soon as I saw Hermione's grin, I knew her efforts had met with success. As she saw my face light up, Hermione suppressed her grin and was all serious.

"I ran out of time before I could finish. I made a little progress, and I'll try to pick up my research when we return. It was most interesting and I enjoyed the hunt. I heard of your adventure. Yours is so thrilling that I won't bore you with mine. If you're interested, I'll fill you in sometime when you're already tired and bored. Looking at you now, you're more energized than I've seen you in weeks."

"It was an exciting and slightly scary trip," I confessed. "I can work and repair circles and learn new skills, but I do crave adventure."

"I knew we were alike," Cissy declared from halfway down the table, punctuating her remark with a fist pump. "This whole Quest has been a most excellent adventure – not that there weren't times I was very frightened. Now I want to get back to my castle for a week of normal."

I think we all wanted that week of normal. After dessert, Odin's servants entered the eating room with our packed supplies and Frijjo led us to the White Column. I left Blacky with Odin, suggesting that he might scout the world-between-Asgard-and-Beyond in our absence. I didn't want any surprises when we entered that in-between world.

We would all walk to the Durmstrang reception hall. Since Cho had volunteered that she and Viktor would finish the work on the circle and the White Column, the rest of us would immediately apparate from Durmstrang to the Ministry. I wanted to ensure that I saw Harry and Dad, before I saw McGonagall.

My team apparated in small groups to Harry's reception room, making sure to quickly clear the apparation target in the middle of the carpet. I asked my arriving team members to move into the corridor so others could arrive, but I headed straight into Harry's office. Harry was there and immediately stood up from behind his desk and came around the desk to snog me. Harry was becoming less shy, and the presence of Shacklebolt and Mrs. Longbottom didn't at all deter his exuberant greeting.

I was surprised to see Hermione standing next to us, when I came up for air. I had expected that she would lead the rest of my team into the corridor and give me a little immediate alone time with Harry. I could tell that she was very excited and I didn't think that was because of the snogging display Harry and I had put on.

"Sorry, I know you wanted to be alone with Harry, but since you aren't alone, I should tell you right away what I learned in the library today. You might want to send for the Minister – this is big!"

Harry asked his assistant to go and invite Dad to join us. Hermione stood in silence until Dad arrived.

"I found a lengthy parchment describing a 'great mirrored black stone of enormous power', which I felt could only be our Black Stone. It's mainly a description of that Stone's powers, pretty much what we already knew, but then at the end of the manuscript was mention of a new way to enter the Stone. The Black Stone is unique among all the highly magical stones of the many worlds of Odin's domain, which is what the library describes. That is because it is housed inside its own mini-world. Its mini-world is the ultimate entry-path-world-between-worlds. That is how the transporter can whisk you to the stars in under a minute. The big thing is that we can world-walk into the world of the Black Stone. There may be more space in that world than is needed just to hold our Black Stone. That is where we may find the answers to the mysteries of the Stone's origin and how some evil entity has been able to take partial control of it. The manuscript knew about other worlds and world-walking, but said the Black Stone's world was different and artificial. It was the only world that was deliberately created. It theorized that this creator was the original great God of good. That might be the Light Guardian, it might be another ancient God, or it may just be legendary hooey. Anyhow, I wanted you to know right away that we can world-walk into the world of the Black Stone. I felt it important that Odin not know what I discovered. I left another parchment relating to magical circles and stones out on my study table and put the key parchment back where I found it. That doesn't mean Odin won't quickly discover what I was looking at. He might already know and that might be why Frijjo has suddenly decided to travel with us."

Harry and Dad insisted upon an explanation of world-walking. Dad insisted upon knowing why Hermione mistrusted Odin. Hermione gave a clear description of world-walking, but couldn't adequately identify why she mistrusted Odin. Shacklebolt suggested that any being that powerful must inspire wariness as well as awe. Hermione agreed that this might be the reason, but also told Shacklebolt that she was disturbed by how Odin dribbled out information and that the mention of the purple diamond had come alarmingly late in the process.

This led to the general issue of the jail, its guards, bribing them with diamonds, buying spirits out of jail and BeyondWorld and, unavoidably, onto Harry's surmising that his parents' freedom might be purchased with an adequate supply of diamonds.

I hastened to shush Harry, telling him that it was a bad idea to buy his parents back to life, and unlikely to return them as anything more substantial than Peeves.

Harry gave me a very upset look and told me "I know that. We can talk to Peeves and the ghost of Voldemort spoke to us. I certainly wouldn't mind the chance to spend a week or two chatting with the ghosts of my parents, but mainly I don't want them languishing in BeyondWorld. They are heroes. Now that we know Valhalla is real, that's where I want their spirits to be."

Oh.

Shacklebolt thought negotiating for the freedom of Harry's parents was a most excellent idea. "Can you think of a better or easier way to safely get into the heart of that jail. If Odin sensed that he couldn't use magic or Godly powers to force his way into that jail, then I doubt your team will be able to fight their way in. You might well be able to take the jail, or of equal importance learn if anything inside the jail is worth fighting over, if two of you can use a couple sacks of diamonds to buy your way into the head guy's office. That could spare your team a lot of grief at the cost of just some diamonds. As part of the negotiations, it's natural that you would demand to have Harry's parents brought to you. That gives you two more allies inside that jail. I like Harry's plan. Did you have a different plan?"

No, I really didn't. I had thought about using invisibility cloaks, but realized that the guards must not depend a whole lot upon their sense of sight. They would probably hear or smell us coming. They might even be able to sense the presence of another spirit, whether or not that spirit was attached to a body.

"Thoughts on super ghosts or the swarm?"

"I'm not sure Harry. I think Odin is correct that it takes a fairly long while to alert and mobilize the swarm. I also agree with him that stealth is important, because if we can delay the guards summoning the swarm long enough, we can avoid them entirely. If we do have to face them, I'd try freezing the guards, as we did with the ghost of Voldemort and I would test the power of multiple Patronuses launched from a tight circle against the swarm. What I really want is a way to escape instantly if things go bad. If our portkey belts could be made to work in BeyondWorld, that would be ideal. Obviously, we still have a lot of planning to do. Hermione has done a lot of research, but we need to digest all of that information. We plan to have one team as spirits in the atmosphere and a second corporeal team on the surface. It is important that the two teams be able to communicate quickly. We can't do much of anything until we find the Valkyrie and learn how they are being bound to BeyondWorld. Hopefully they will be able to answer that question. A lot depends on making the Black Stone trustworthy. At least one of the groups will travel via the Black Stone and it may be our best route for communications. A lot could go wrong very fast if the Stone turns against us."

"That's still a lot of 'ifs' and 'I don't knows' for an attack you seem to have already decided to go ahead with, Ginny," Harry clearly wasn't happy.

"I think you might want some spirit warriors on the surface," Mrs. Longbottom declared. "You really don't know whether spirit warriors or actual warriors will be more effective, although I assume that two of you will have to enter the jail in your actual bodies."

"In addition to needing some home-time relaxation, we're here for the next two or three weeks to get everybody's input in developing the best possible plan of attack," Hermione assured Harry. "We promise not to take unnecessary risks."

"This whole mission seems like an unnecessary risk," Harry lamented.

"And that's quite enough Quest talk for now, I want to see Mom."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty-Five – It's Great To Be Home**

I found Mom at Hogwarts. Although she was all good cheer and 'everything's fine', it was obvious that her ear was still bleeding a bit and hurt a lot. Happily, it was also obvious how happy she was to see me. She gave me as big a hug and almost as many kisses as Harry had. It was quite the counter-point to Dad's reserved, low key greeting. Dad was still uncomfortable with displays of affection in Shacklebolt's presence.

I had a very long talk with Mom. She didn't offer me sherry, admitting that too much sherry was likely to make her ear bleed. As we talked about my Quest experience, I realized that she had heard and remembered every non-sexy word I had communicated to Harry during all those many evenings. She shared Hermione's mistrust of Odin, but saw it as a positive sign that Frijjo would enter BeyondWorld with us. Unlike Harry and Dad, Mom accepted that I would be traveling to BeyondWorld. She feared the trip and she wasn't happy that I was going, but she also recognized the necessity and acknowledged that I was the most qualified available being to do what must be done. She had a resolute faith that I would rise to the occasion and rescue the Valkyrie. She even mentioned that I must keep Hermione safe – she wasn't on my level as a fighter and Ron would be devastated if Hermione didn't safely return from the Quest. Yes, she realized that I might die, but she worried more about Hermione.

Mom had been as surprised as me to learn that McGonagall proposed to lead a competing Quest in the name of her surrogate, Narcissa. She knew that McGonagall was very disappointed not to be on my Quest, but was astounded that she would take such an extreme step. For Narcissa, Mom had only scorn. "That Witch took the coward's way out in escaping your Quest. Now that she expects a far easier road, she's back into Questing, and not for any noble purpose. That Witch wants personal glory and power, and I suspect she thinks she knows how to make a lot of galleons from the Quest. She has already harassed your father and King Gobbledegook that they must provide bags of diamonds and mountains of silver and crystals for the Quest. I'm not sure what Professor McGonagall's game is, but I'll wager that Narcissa is planning to run off with the riches sometime during the first stop on her Quest."

"You sound even more upset about the other Quest than I am. I was most upset by the nonsense that they were launching their Quest in an attempt to make mine easier."

"Yes, that is a horrible lie – to blame you for their bad conduct. If you think that I am overly upset, you should talk to Professor Firenze. Having messed up the start of your Quest with his ridiculous rules, it pains him no end to have to pass on far more lenient rules to Narcissa. I can tell he doesn't trust that Witch and would take great pleasure in denying her permission to Quest. He isn't sure that he can deny her. He says that he now has no idea what the Quest rules are or even if there are rules. He's also angry that Narcissa made a big point of sticking to only Witches for her Quest team, with the obnoxious comment that she 'really can't see the propriety of taking either mixed-blood Witches or females of other species on something as solemn and important to our future as this Quest appears to be. Really, that was most irresponsible of Ginny. Could there be a worse choice of Muse than Hermione?' Firenze was rightly disgusted.

"Your father is even angrier than Firenze. Professor McGonagall had the gall to demand entry to his office to present her 'list of requirements for our Quest.' She demanded instant and unfettered, to be translated as unsupervised, access to the Sacred Cavern, the Black Stone and the White Stone. She said she couldn't possibly train her team adequately to ensure their safety, if she were denied this access. She made the same demand to King Gobbledegook. Both your father and the King turned her down. She wrote a furious letter to both the Quibbler and the Prophet, deploring 'the favoritism shown to certain Quest leaders who are related to our Minister'.

"That is terrible. Harry didn't tell me any of this."

"He didn't want to mess up your Quest with upsetting news from home. You took the news of my ear so badly that he felt he would be endangering your life if he didn't edit his comments. He said you needed to focus on the dangers you were facing and that some of his comments were making you to emotional to stay focused. He really worried what he should and shouldn't say to you."

At least Harry hadn't mentioned the part about my crying because Harry missed an 'I love you, Ginny'. Maybe he did. Mom was too smart to let on, if Harry had told her about that. It seemed to me that Harry had done entirely too much talking to my mother, while I was away. I knew that Harry was very concerned and worried, but it was unfair to drop his worries onto my injured Mom.

Mom informed me that the Quest team had been chosen. The rumored choice of Irma was wrong. This would be an all-Slytherin team, except for McGonagall. There was Millicent Bulstrode, Hestia Carrow, Pansy Parkinson, Astoria Greenglass, Victoria Malfoy, and Daphne Greenglass. Mom was indignant that Narcissa told Cotto 'you allowed Ginny a sixth Witch assistant, so you must do the same for me, I choose Daphne, that's Daphne Greenglass. I will not be cheated by an Elf.'

I had hoped that Mom would relax me, but instead she really riled me up. I left her apartment truly pissed at both McGonagall and Narcissa. So pissed that I chose the rash course of hunting down McGonagall on my own, not even stopping by the library to collect Hermione.

I found her in her teaching office.

I knocked. She opened the door. I shouted "how dare you launch a competing Quest with that deserter Narcissa? She's not entitled to an easy do-over."

"Apparently she is. Cotto and Firenze have allowed us to move ahead with Quest planning, although your father has been an obstacle, per usual. And, hello to you, too. I'm surprised to see you. I didn't think you'd abandon your Quest this soon. I guess the thought of walking into BeyondWorld is too scary for you. Don't worry. I'll do the job in your place. Really, you've done quite enough, already. I don't understand why you're angry. The purpose of my Quest was to make your Quest easier and safer. Admittedly, I also wish to restore Narcissa's self-esteem and reputation. Some people close to you said some very unkind things when Narcissa left your Quest. They were very damaging to poor Narcissa."

This was too much. I just turned and walked away from her babbling. I went to the library for a chat with Hermione.

"How could McGonagall possibly know that we plan to world-walk into BeyondWorld?" Hermione asked me. "You must ask Harry exactly whom he shares your daily reports with. He may have to find out if any of those persons share what is said, although we can assume that there are advisors whom Tony shares almost everything with."

Hermione advised me to simply ignore McGonagall and Narcissa – let them bang their heads against the strong wall which was Dad. "I think the four of us should visit Draco. He might know a lot. First, I think you and I need to make the rounds of Neville, Firenze, and Cotto. I also want to know more about Irma's on-and-off membership on McGonagall's Quest team. Don't you find it strange that Trelawney isn't on the team? Maybe we should talk to her, as well."

I didn't find Trew's absence nearly as strange as Hermione did. Trew was the jilted spouse. McGonagall was back with her original love. Trew was probably angry enough to spill a lot of secrets. Yes, we definitely must speak with Professor Trelawney, preferably over several bottles of port.

A polite inquiry about the progress of her research revealed that Hermione had spent a frustratingly unproductive several hours, finding nothing of value about the swarm or the BeyondWorld jail or its guards. "In some ways, the Hogwarts library is very limited. It doesn't compare at all to the quality of Odin's library. It's particularly useless on these topics. I don't think Dumbledore or Dippet had any interest in BeyondWorld and they were the source of most of the books in the restricted library. Also nothing in the Flamel papers. Yes, I'd love to take a break and chat for evidence. Neville is a good first stop. We owe him a check-in, anyway."

Neville joked - at least I hope he was joking - "I knew you were here. I'm the headmaster, I thought I should wait until you finally decided to come visit me. You're both looking very well, despite what I've heard of the privations you've suffered. McGonagall complained to me that you were rude and disrespectful towards her, when you should have realized that she was only trying to help."

"How could I have missed such an obvious fact as that. Yes, we had a lot of privations, but for the last several weeks, we've been living in a very elegant silver palace with a magical rejuvenation oval. You should see Mafalda – another few sessions in the oval and you'll be abandoning Ostara to chase after her."

"That won't happen. You'll want to talk to Ostara, by the way, she is plugged into a lot more of the chatter going around our community than I am."

Neville told us that the circle of advisors whom Harry regularly updated on my whisper updates was relatively small: Neville himself, Dad, Tony, Cotto, Shacklebolt, Mom, George, Percy, Wood, and Viktor. McGonagall and her cronies definitely were not among those who spoke with Harry. Neville hadn't even told Ostara about what I told Harry. Firenze was moping about, because he thought Harry was excluding him at my insistence. He felt that I had totally lost faith in him and he believed I had reason to shun him. Neville insisted that Firenze must be my next stop. It was the merciful thing to do.

"Professor Firenze complains to me every other day 'why is Cotto trusted and I am not? We both were foolish. It hurts that Cotto will tell me nothing. I suspect that Bane receives news from Cantring and Pegasus, but has been asked not to speak to me. Haven't I been punished enough? It's not my fault that I can't stop McGonagall and Narcissa from their vindictive foolishness. Cotto also hasn't stopped them, but Harry still meets with Cotto.' I can tell you that things have gotten frosty around here. I avoid Professor McGonagall and would avoid Trew and her tears, if I felt it were decent for me to stay away from her. The poor Witch has needed comforting, and I've been the chosen comforter. Ostara has helped a lot.

"It's a problem being a young headmaster. I have no trouble comforting the students, but comforting an older professor is just very awkward for me. I sense it is awkward for her as well, and she'd much rather talk to Adrienne. She does spend some afternoons in your mother's apartment. Molly avoids Professor McGonagall as much as I do. Professor Sprout seems very torn between wanting to support me and feeling an unpleasant duty to stand by both Professors McGonagall and Trelawney. She absolutely loathes Narcissa and has asked me why I don't prevent her from entering Hogwarts. I wish I could do that. It would be all-out war with McGonagall if I did that."

Our next stop was Firenze. We had to go far into the forest, before we found him. He and Bane had been talking, but Bane just said a brief hello to us and trotted away.

"Bane really was being polite," Firenze apologized. "I don't want to start our conversation on a bad note. What Bane and I were discussing was truly not for your ears and I'm sure that Bane worries that I will be shamed if he hears what you have to say to me."

"We're not here to say anything bad to or about you," Hermione promised.

"We've just come from Neville and know your concerns." I told Firenze to relax. "I didn't ask Harry not to talk to you about the Quest. I did ask that he keep the group smaller than it had been, so that nothing leaked back to whomever took control of the Stone. I do still trust you and consider you a friend. I am upset about the messed up start to my Quest, but don't blame you for that. I am upset about the McGonagall/Narcissa Quest, but I don't blame you for that, either. I am perfectly willing to discuss either or both Quests with you. It is not at all my intention to shut you out. I only ask that you don't over-share with the Stone. We will try to fix the Stone, but until we can pull that off, I won't share everything with it. When I report back to the bigger group through the Stone, I give a very censored report. I do this, even though I'm quite sure Odin can hear everything I whisper to Harry. My new pet is a spy, and not for me. That's why I left Blacky back in Asgard."

"Thank you! Bane has told me little, but he did let slip that you were telling Harry a lot more than you were telling the larger group. I decided that I wasn't trusted and stopped attending the larger group. I'm sorry if my shame cost you potentially useful guidance from me. Let's go somewhere more comfortable for the two of you, where we can talk in private."

We apparated to Hermione's back yard. It was more private, because my house shielded her yard from direct view of those in the Goblin and Elf sanctuaries. Hermione waved her wand and we had a shaded lawn table, with two chairs, ice water, port, and a tray of snacks. That was a truly remarkable feat for a Witch who hadn't been home in four weeks. Perhaps Ron had organized the drinks and snacks as a welcome-home for Hermione. We all grabbed a glass of port and then Firenze launched into his disturbing tale.

"You know that I communicate directly with the Stone a lot more than anyone, other than possibly the two of you. Cotto has relatively little to do with the Stone. The Stone knows that you choose not to share a lot of what you know. It doesn't know that you whisper more things to Harry, but it often begs me 'you must convince Ginny and Hermione that we can't help them unless they share everything with us. They are in danger and it is very possible that you and I can help them. It is safer for them if they trust us. Assure them that I am fully in control of myself. The Stranger hasn't invaded my being in over a month. I have defeated it.' That sounds good, but sometimes, only a few later, the Stone will deny saying any of that. I'm quite sure that I have had at least one conversation with the Stone at a time when the Stranger controlled it. The time I was certain I spoke to the Stranger was only a week ago. Since that time the Stone has seemed normal and has remembered what it and I said to each other. When I was unknowingly speaking to the Stranger, I sensed a great concern that you were in Odin's palace. It was a lot more than just an interest and curiousity about what you were doing there. I sensed fear. Don't worry, I let nothing slip. I hardly could, since I don't know anything."

We gave Firenze a very full accounting of what we had learned during the Quest. Surprisingly, Hermione explained what she had learned during her solo meeting with the one Valkyrie remaining on Asgard. She thought she had told me of this, but she hadn't. I certainly would have remembered.

"Her name is Ardath and I think she is Cissy's ancient priestess memory. She is still an apprentice Valkyrie after all these years. She was left behind when the others traveled to BeyondWorld, because at least one Valkyrie had to remain to oversee the service provided to the residents of Valhalla. She wasn't told much other than that Sigrun was concerned that someone or some thing in the Beyond was interfering with her ability to approach close enough to magical battles to choose brave spirits for Valhalla. She and her sisters were kept outside an impenetrable bubble too wide for them to harvest spirits but narrow enough that they could witness the most desirable spirits being just sucked away into the clouds. She did overhear Sigrun tell one of the senior Valkyries 'we must go back to where this problem began. We must find the spirit of Regulus Black.' That's all she could tell me. She begged that we hurry to rescue her sisters. I asked, but she had no idea how Regulus Black could be the beginning of the problem."

I guess better to know this later, rather than never. Firenze thanked us for our trust and candor and said he would do his best to be a useful contributor to our team going forward. He promised to stop McGonagall and Narcissa if he could.

"They are so insistent. I try to say no to McGonagall, but she will not hear it. I cannot cite a rule, one which I know for certain to be correct, as a reason to ban that Quest. The problem is that there is so very little that I know to a certainty. I have communed in the great circle of the Sacred Cavern more than once, but those visions have been no help to us. I have begged for the Stone to give me a reason, any highly plausible reason at all. The Stone is less than no help, as it tells me that Narcissa was ordained to Quest. Where that comes from, I know not. I tell the Stone that Narcissa has already Quested, but abandoned that Quest. The Stone gave me the rock-talk equivalent of 'perhaps'. I've spoken to King Gobbledegook. He tells me that a partial vision tells him that Narcissa should have gone on her first Quest, regardless of Voldemort's objections. She could have been gone before he had a chance to stop her. That was her fate. She also was fated to pursue your Quest to its end. He has seen nothing regarding a new third Quest for her, but says it makes sense if she indeed is fated to complete a Quest journey. As you can see, I have found no help anywhere, but the new information you have provided may help. I will think, and I will return to the circle. I am very glad that we talked."

Firenze kissed our foreheads and then there was a loud pop and he was gone.

"I'm really sorry I didn't mention Ardath," Hermione told me. "What should we do next?"

"I think Trew first and then Draco, but I'm hungry. Let's take Trew to Ms. Bones' chocolate shop."

It was back to Neville, who told us that Trew was in a new Hogwarts' apartment. He sent his Patronus to fetch her. She was very willing to test my belief in the curative powers of dark chocolate.

Just the feel and smell of the mug of hot chocolate in my hand, and the sight of the three chipster cookies on my plate, sent a warm glow through my being. I think Trew also was relaxing. I vowed to let the more-reassuring Hermione take the lead and she did.

"We hear that you've had a tough time with McGonagall and we are very sorry."

"It's not at all unexpected, so I'm surprised that the finality of our breakup has hit me as hard as it has. It is next to impossible to compete against a first love which was interrupted in full flower by parental diktat. I've always been aware that thoughts of Narcissa were never far from Minerva's mind. She said that it was only massive feelings of guilt and the need to repair what she had destroyed, but I always knew that it was much more than that. Minerva never stopped loving Narcissa. Narcissa was frozen in her mind as a perfect image of new love at its peak. The peak is always higher with a first love. To have that new relationship be burning so brightly and then be snatched away in an instant – I can well understand why it has stuck with Minerva all these years. Nobody can compete with such a memory.

"I will wait until the fire burns itself out, and see if anything is recoverable between Minerva and me. Narcissa has surprised and frightened me. She had spurned Minerva and did so very cruelly. Now suddenly she is back with Minerva and planning a Quest. I fear that my old friend is being used, and is far to besotted to recognize this or to care. I don't know why Narcissa believes that she must have Minerva as part of this Quest. I'm not sure why she has allowed Minerva to basically take over all of the planning for the Quest. I just know that Narcissa has an ulterior motive, and that she is not undertaking this Quest for the good of our community or for peace among magical creatures. There is still a lot of Slytherin and more than a little Death Eater in that Witch."

The rest of our chocolate break was filled with encouraging chit chat on our part and warnings to be very careful from Trew. Trew said that she had a dream that our Quest would end well, but that she still worried. Then she said something truly chilling: "my dream, almost a vision, ended with the two of you feeling forced to kill Narcissa and Minerva. I awoke screaming 'please, spare Minerva!' I don't know whether that was a prophetic vision or not. I tried to repeat it and failed. I didn't see what led to that moment or how it ended. It chilled me to the bone. I feared for you and Hermione and your brave team, just as I feared for Minerva. It may just be a normal dream manifestation of my sense of loss, when Minerva abandoned me yet again for Narcissa. It could be, but it seemed more real than that."

I decided that we should find Harry and Ron before we tried to tackle Draco. I really needed to eat something with more protein than I had consumed today. I saw our chocolate break as a snack, but we were now past dinnertime. I reached out to Harry and learned that he and Ron were waiting for us in our house. We apparated there immediately.

The lads were a tad upset that we had spent the day visiting with other people. At least Harry had seen me: this was Ron's first sighting of Hermione. He was complaining about being ignored. She stanched the flow of complaints by tying him up in a super snogging session. While they snogged, Harry told me that we were all invited to Malfoy Mansion for dinner and conversation with Draco. "Well, now it will be a late dinner. I warned Draco that we had to find you, so it might take a while."

"You could have whispered me."

"You seemed to busy to talk to me."

"Are you really that upset? There were loose ends that I had to tie up. Mom told me that you've been sparing me the news that you felt would be upsetting to me. If you'd have kept me fully informed, I could have saved hours of talking to other people. But please, I don't want to fight. I'm really happy to see you again. Can we do what they're doing."

We had a quick snog, which ended as soon as Hermione pulled away from Ron. Then it was off to Malfoy Manor.

"I wasn't sure if you'd actually be here or not," Draco half complained. "Fortunately, dinner is beef stew and that keeps forever. The wine may have over-breathed, but none of you is a sophisticated enough drinker to even notice. We won't be drinking Witch sherry tonight. This will be more of father's almost extinct cellar."

As we walked into the sitting room, I saw that Luna and George had arrived before us and were sharing some of Draco's inherited wine. From Luna's tipsiness as she rose to greet us, I gathered that they had been waiting for us and drinking for quite some time. Draco basically just gathered up George and Luna and guided us all into the dining room. The table was set with large bowls and spoons. A cauldron of stew sat at the center of the table. Draco pointed his wand at the cauldron and gave it a warming spell.

"I think we should get right to the food," Draco told us. "It's getting late, we've already drunk quite a lot of wine, and I have a lot that I need to tell you. Little Erin is asleep, but you can probably visit with her later. Let me get bread and some wine for the new arrivals. Just sit wherever you like, except that chair is mine. I don't have a date for tonight, because it would be very awkward, given what I have to tell you. I've been out to dinner a few times with Astoria Greenglass and she's been here for dinner twice and an over-night. I'm not sure why I told you that, other than that I don't want you to find out later and get suspicious. I took Astoria to dinner before my mother recruited her to go Questing. I'm not at all pleased by that. Astoria would back out of the Quest if she thought she could. She didn't realize that I would object. I'd better fetch the bread. Luna baked it."

The wine, the stew, and the bread were all excellent and they went very well together. I enjoyed my food, but most of my attention was directed toward Draco and what he wanted to tell me.

"I'm not at all pleased to have my mother back with McGonagall. When she returned to this house, she promised me that she was through with McGonagall forever. That changed about three weeks ago. McGonagall stopped by for a visit, and mother agreed to take a walk in the garden with her. They walked to the farthest corner of the garden and talked intently for close to an hour, like the conspirators I'm very sure they are. After McGonagall left, mother mentioned for the first time that she must lead her own Quest. She told me that while she was aware of the tradition, there really was no upper age limit for a Quest leader or Muse. She must lead her Quest, as she had originally planned to do before Voldemort had rejected her choice of McGonagall as Muse and then forced her to withdraw entirely. She told me that she realized that one can never successfully flee from one's destiny forever.

"I told her that she hadn't thought this prior to McGonagall's visit. She said that was true, but that McGonagall had told her of a vision that both King Gobbledegook and Professor Trelawney had. She insisted that she would confirm for herself everything that McGonagall had told her but that if McGonagall spoke the truth, that she, that's my mother, could no longer shirk her destiny. I told her that this was very odd, since she had already fled Ginny's Quest. She explained that you never wanted her in the first place. Her presence was Firenze's doing. She had a premonition of death if she continued on to Azkaban and Durmstrang. Her presence was a danger to all of you and that abandoning that Quest was the only rational course of action. That was not her Quest and Fate knew that. She could not get away with substituting your Quest for her own. She had upset the stability of our world when she allowed Voldemort to force her out of her Quest. That was cowardly. She must make amends."

"Abandoning my Quest and starting her own, while my Quest is still in progress, seems an extraordinarily hostile action," I admitted to Draco.

"It seemed that way to me as well and I challenged mother on that. She insists that her goal is to save you and your team from coming to harm in her place. If she had done what she should have done all those years ago, then you would not be facing the dangers you face today. She said that McGonagall warned her that all of you would view this as yet another act of betrayal, but that it wasn't. She asked me to tell you that she wants to explain things to you, and needs to do so without McGonagall."

"I don't understand enough to meet with your mother. Can you fill in some of the blanks? Why your new girlfriend and her sister as Quest members? Why Irma and then suddenly no Irma. Why the rather hostile comment that if I can have 6 Witch assistants, so can she, as if I somehow cheated? Why Victoria? I thought she was my ally. Why only Slytherins? Why the snide comment that she's not including representatives from the other magical peoples, as I have done? Why must she Quest before my Quest is finished? If Durmstrang was a mortal danger for her on my Quest, why is it safe today? Why is she allowing McGonagall to direct her Quest? And finally, doesn't it take a tremendous amount of gall to insist that my father pony up more silver and jewels for her unauthorized Quest, while mine is in progress and I may need more help?"

"I'll answer all of that as best I can. I fear that mother included Astoria to spite me. She doesn't approve of Astoria, or rather she thinks this is too quick a rebound for me and that the Greengrass family are gold-diggers who see me as easy prey. By adding Astoria to the Quest, mother keeps her away from me for months. During the Quest, mother will have plenty of time to convince Astoria that she really doesn't want me. I'll be described as some selfish, sniveling mama's boy. If that doesn't work, Astoria could die on the Quest. Yes, I know what my mother is capable of. From ignoring McGonagall the rest of her seventh year, to marrying father, to saving Harry from Voldemort, to practically murdering my father, my mother has always been very able to do what she thinks must be done. Now she thinks she must Quest and I must not marry Astoria.

"I think McGonagall picked Irma. Viktor didn't approve, and mother wanted all Slytherins. Mother is old school – pure-bloods only for something as important as Questing. Irma may even be pure blood, but the Germans don't keep track of such things to mother's satisfaction. On the six Witches – mother knows this won't be easy and wants every advantage she can grasp. You were an easy excuse. One thing mother learned on your Quest is that King Gobbledegook is not to be trusted. She doesn't want his wife on her Quest. She'd prefer to have an Elf and Unicorn with her, but didn't see a way of achieving that without including other non-Witches. She Quests now because she thinks you need her help now. I think she feared Azkaban quite a bit more than she feared Durmstrang. That danger seems past. No, I don't think she knew about Slytherin. She feared the Dementors. She thinks you've cleared a safe path for her to Durmstrang.

"She hasn't allowed McGonagall to plan the Quest. McGonagall was set on including harcrux Jaden on the Quest, saying she was part of the original Quest. Mother would not have it. Jaden wasn't Slytherin. She also was her mother. Mother has decided all the things she felt were important enough to be worthy of her attention, and has left the rest to McGonagall. That seemed to amuse her. I don't think your father should pony up silver or jewels for mother's Quest. I'm very pleased that he has refused her request. That's about all that I can tell you. Mother seems to trust Cotto, but not Firenze. She fears that Firenze will somehow block her Quest."

That was all the useful information Draco had for us. We learned that he really did like Astoria, that he felt mostly recovered from Erin's death. He didn't think anyone could properly replace Erin, but Astoria could come as close as any Witch. He was legally earning money from the estate and what was left of his father's business. Baby Erin was growing rapidly and doing very well. She was already past crawling to sort-of walking. He was sorry, but it was beginning to appear that Erin was down for the night. She mostly slept through the night. Luna was still a very great help. He appreciated everything we had done for him and would help us if he could. As we were about to leave, he told us something he found very humorous.

"When mother came here from Edinburgh, she told me that she had absolutely no feelings for McGonagall. She said that McGonagall fell in love with a different Witch than she is today. When she first saw Voldemort and began her training for that first Quest, all of the artificial personality and early memories of the daughter Voldemort had placed with the Blacks was wiped away with a flick of Voldemort's wand. It was as if that artificial Narcissa just vanished and the old childhood as Voldemort's prisoner flooded back.

"She said it now seemed strange to her, in a hah-hah kind of way, that the person whom McGonagall had most loved during her whole lifetime was a phony personality crafted by Voldemort. The new leader of the Order had not only loved Voldemort's daughter, but had loved Voldemort's idea of a convincing and socially-acceptable personality for that daughter. She said that none of this mattered to McGonagall. She felt that the Hogwarts-educated mind was the true mind. Whatever the parents shipped to Hogwarts was immaterial, it was the final product molded by the professors that mattered. Voldemort may have created the Narcissa who first caught McGonagall's attention, but McGonagall felt she had infinitely improved that young Narcissa – that she had made her into a person worthy of her own love. We both laughed at that. That's why I was so shocked when she ran off with McGonagall yet again. I thought you'd all laugh at that. Perhaps you have to know my mother as well as I do to recognize the full humor of that tale. Well, goodnight, I'm very glad you came and disappointed that I didn't get to show off Little Erin."

I had been on an obsessive quest for knowledge to try to figure out why McGonagall was doing what she was doing. Now I was back home with just Harry and the only thoughts on my mind were 'bed, sex, more sex, maybe I'll even sleep'.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty-Six – A Meeting With Tony**

I was awakened by a very persistent message from Hermioneo, by way of the Stone. **Wake up. It's eight in the morning. Harry turned off or isn't answering his phone. Arthur is angry. He arranged a meeting of all the big deciders, including Tony. He wanted permission to invite Cotto, Firenze, Bane, and King Gobbledegook. He said he needed an answer from Harry or you an hour ago, so I would just have to answer for you. I said all but Gobbledegook. Breakfast at our house in twenty minutes.**

I told Hermione that we'd see her then and got to work tickling Harry until he woke up and glared at me. "Dad is angry that you turned off your phone. Important meeting this morning, including Tony. Breakfast at Ron and Hermione's house."

"Fine, I know I shouldn't have turned off the phone. I needed at least an hour or two of sleep. I'll face your father. I have no regrets – last night was worth it."

We were unsmelly and dressed in fifteen minutes and made it to Hermione's kitchen with a minute to spare. "I know I probably said too much through the Stone," Hermione confessed. "I hope King Gobbledegook isn't the baddie who can seize control of the Stone. I don't want to tip him off that he's a suspect. The meeting is at the Ministry at nine-thirty, by the way. We are to come to Arthur's office."

"Is King Gobbledegook a suspect for that?" Harry said doubtfully. "I don't think he has the skill to pull something like that off. If he was capable of that, he wouldn't have to send you off on the Quest. Ginny told me the other names, and I'm fine with them. Is it a problem having the King's daughter on the Quest? If he's bad, then she's the spy of bad."

"It is what it is," I told Harry. "It would be awkward to remove her. I strongly approve of the changes she and her mother want to make to Goblin society, and I'm willing to run some risk to help her with that. She's been a very reliable team member. She does study EVERYTHING. I'll admit to having a little concern with the intensity with which she studied everything we saw in Asgard. Odin thought she was an industrial spy for the Goblin metal smiths. We missed a key demonstration on making Goblin silver – it's really Odin's silver, he invented it – because she was too obviously taking detailed mental notes of absolutely everything. I think she just wants to increase her personal knowledge for when she plays a bigger role in the Goblin society, but I may have blind spot where Tendra is concerned. I know if Torva had behaved exactly as Tendra behaved, I would have been very suspicious."

Hermione is not at all the cook that I am, but she made a very tasty breakfast. Hermione enjoys doing breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, bacon, porridge with brown sugar and cinnamon, and fresh-squeezed orange juice – a real treat in Wizard society. Hermione looked as exhausted as I felt and I couldn't help commenting, "it looks like you and Ron spent last night the same way Harry and I did. I'm surprised you were able to answer the phone that early. I'm beat."

"Yes, an excellent night was had by all. How could it be otherwise after a month on the road? Is your Dad really too old to understand?"

I let that pass and Harry saved me by suggesting that we needed to get to the Ministry early. This obviously was a very important meeting, Arthur was upset, and Wood or Percy or Callista might give us a helpful briefing on what we most needed to watch out for and what might sooth Arthur. We were in Harry's office a little before nine and Percy and Callista soon joined us. Percy said that Wood was tied up on an important project in the field. He didn't know what that was, but speculated that Wood was after the villain who wounded Mom's ear.

Harry' s first question was "does anybody know the full list of attendees at the meeting?'

Of course Percy knew: "In addition to those you already know about, Tony is bringing Stewart, Molly will be there, so will Shacklebolt, Neville and Mrs. Longbottom, Cho and Viktor, the head security guy from the German Ministry, Monsieur Delacour, Ellie, and Barb."

"Is there a pressing reason that we're meeting with Tony this soon? I expected to meet with Arthur's full cabinet first."

"Tony has been pushing the Minister. He's getting jumpy as the Quest drags on – sorry, Ginny – and he went crazy when he heard about McGonagall's Quest. You know that McGonagall generally annoys him. He doesn't trust her at all. I think you actually meeting and spending most of a month with a major God has unnerved him. When you began your Quest, I think Tony was convinced that you wouldn't find any Gods. He didn't full credit Brighid and Little Baal as Gods, or at least they didn't worry him. Odin worries him. Other worlds which touch our own worry him. Being able to walk between these worlds with an army of God-warriors really, really worries him."

"Percy is correct," Callista assured me. "Tony is worried and your main job will be to reassure him that things are under control. He will insist upon 'helping'. If you want to spend the next fifteen minutes profitably preparing for the big meeting, you should think about some meaningful ways that Tony's 'help' could actually be helpful."

That was what we did during the rest of our ten minutes, although we didn't come up with much. The best we had was a list of things that Tony's Muggle experts could help us with, our need for more diamonds, and the thing we knew Tony would love best: some of his best soldiers standing by in case we world-walked into a hornets nest and some of the hornets followed us back home.

We arrived at Dad's office and found him meeting with just Prudence.

"You can't ever turn off that phone, I very nearly sent aurors to fetch you and then I thought of Ron and Hermione," Dad scolded Harry.

Harry replied that he almost never turned off his phone, but that my home-coming was a hugely important event. Dad decided not to respond to that, moving on to preview the Tony meeting.

"Ginny and Hermione are going to have to give a detailed account of the Quest, especially your time with Odin. Odin scares Tony. He also wants to know a lot more about this world-walking. So do I. Is it dangerous? Either to you or to the rest of us, who may have some baddies from another world suddenly walking into our sitting rooms or even my office at the Ministry?"

"It could be dangerous," I admitted. "We're still learning about it. We don't think you can just walk anywhere. We think that there are just a few places on each world, where you can world-walk from or two. Unfortunately, one place might be inside the Ministry and another might be under Hogwarts."

There was a knock on the door. An auror poked his head in and told Dad, "The Prime Minister and his aide have arrived. They are being escorted to your conference room."

We headed to the conference room, before Dad could ask me more questions. As we were walking he told us, "be honest, but try to minimize the fear factor for our guests. I want Tony to believe that we can handle this. I need to believe that we can handle this."

"We can handle this," I told Dad, just as we entered his conference room.

There was a lot of food, but I was glad I had eaten breakfast. I'd be doing a lot of talking. I grabbed a mug of formerly-hot chocolate and snared a chocolate chip bagel and a big scoop of strawberry cream cheese. If nothing else, it would give me things to fiddle with, while I was being interrogated. I also took water and three cloth napkins.

Introductions were fast. By some unspoken agreement, Tony got to ask most of the questions and most of them were directed at Hermione and me.

Tony said he'd just give us his whole initial list of questions – no trickery. We could answer in the order we thought made most sense. "Tell me about Odin and Asgard. Did you see evidence of an army? What is his level of technology and magic? What is world-walking? What is a world-between-worlds? Tell me about BeyondWorld and explain why it makes sense for you to go there to rescue the Valkyrie. Aren't they very powerful beings? If they need to be rescued, isn't it extremely dangerous and what makes you think you are up to the task? What is this jail and who are the guards? Why do you need yet another sack of diamonds? Do you know how much they cost? I've never heard of a purple diamond. Are you sure the thing even exists? I thought everyone told your team how dangerous it was to have sex with Gods. Why did Adrienne choose to have sex with two Gods and why on Earth did you allow her to do so? I suspect you left your crow in Asgard because you thought it was a spy and don't fully trust Odin. Is that true and if so, how can the rest of us trust Odin? I have more questions, but that's a good start."

Hermione and I took turns answering. I told him that Odin seemed determined to have sex with one of us and Adrienne was attracted enough to Frijjo to have a go at it. We admitted to knowing nothing new about BeyondWorld from direct experience or even research. We had never seen a purple diamond and knew only what Odin had told us. We didn't think the jailers were truly alive. We suggested the might be ghosts or a different sort of inferiori. We admitted that we weren't sure we could kill or disable them. Stealth and trickery were the safest route into the prison. That's why we needed the diamonds. To a follow-up question from Dad, I promised the group that we were not simply trying to help Harry free his parents. Shacklebolt took credit for that particular plan. We admitted that more research and training were needed – yes, we also needed a better plan of attack.

Neither Tony nor Dad seemed all that satisfied by our answers. The questions only got harder. "What is the swarm? It sounds very dangerous. How can you protect yourself against it? Not to be indelicate, but if you can't protect yourselves from it, can you at least prevent it from coming here? How do you know that you actually world-walked to another world? I understand you never got beyond a pretty much blank world-between worlds – could it have been an elaborate hoax? How much does Odin spy on our world? How much does he know about your people and mine? If it became vitally important that you do so, do you think you have the ability to kill Odin or to at least hurt him enough to repulse him if he attacks our world? Is it wise to take Frijjo with you to BeyondWorld? Do you trust her? Do you trust her to know your attack plan?"

I was surprised to find myself answering, "yes, I do trust Frijjo. I think she'll be a help to us in BeyondWorld. I have no problem giving her the plan of attack." That was the first time that view had crystallized in my head. I admitted that I didn't fully trust Odin, knew that he spied upon us, knew that there was more to his need for us to invade BeyondWorld than he was letting on. Hermione agreed with me. We laid out our preliminary thoughts for dealing with the swarm and the Gods. We weren't confident that we had a plan that could work and were unsurprised when Tony said we needed a better plan and he would help us.

I told Tony that I was happy to accept his help. This surprised him. He stammered a little, before saying he had experts in science, engineering, warfare, and ancient myths and history who could help us. I said fine, but they had to be totally trustworthy and not risks to disclose the presence of our community in Britain. Dad seconded that requirement. Tony agreed that we could jointly decide what experts to use. Hermione said we could start with Uncle Reg. Tony agreed. Tony said we would need an expert on Odin and northern European mythology and ancient history. I agreed, although I told him that Hermione knew quite a lot. Tony promised to find a reliable expert who knew more. Tony wanted to send soldiers with us to BeyondWorld.

Dad shouted "No!" to that request and Shacklebolt supported him.

I surprised Tony by replying "fine, but they must be female soldiers. They must be totally trustworthy, extremely good fighters, and willing to die, which is what they will do if they can't get out of BeyondWorld before our Unicorns start to die."

Tony was taken aback. "Of course they are very good fighters. Of course they are ready to die if I tell them that this is a fight which is vital to the survival of the British people. Yes, they are used to keeping secrets and I will agree that you can confund them when the mission is over. Why do you seem them to be at particular risk of dying?"

"They aren't magical. If we fight with magic, they will be at a disadvantage. More to the point, I doubt they can learn to world-walk. Odin said there was a latent ability that must be inherited or you will never be able to learn it. I'm certainly willing to try to teach your soldiers to world-walk. If they can't world-walk, they are going to have to ride in and out on the Unicorns. The Unicorns can survive on the surface of BeyondWorld for even less time than we can. When I said I would take some of your female soldiers, I was not thinking of a large number. I couldn't handle more than two or three. We don't have enough Unicorns for more than that."

Tony agreed. "Let's say up to three on the mission and I send you six of my best female soldiers for you to train. You will take with you as many as can learn to world-walk, up to a maximum of four. If none can world-walk, you'll take at least two to be transported by Unicorn. Is that fair?"

I explained the unique hazards of BeyondWorld, then I said that Tony's proposal was acceptable. Harry and Dad weren't pleased, but Dad visibly rebooted his thinking and concluded "of course that's the way it must be. Just as Ginny has representatives of all the magical communities on the Quest, she should have representatives from the non-magical British human community. It's only fair. The Quest is important enough to your community that you must be a part of it. We must continue learning to work together and to fully trust each other." Unless Cotto or Firenze were certain that adding the non-magical British soldiers broke the Quest rules, then they would be added to my team.

It was now Cotto's and Firenze's turn to stumble around an answer which, after considering many possible objections, finally concluded that they thought it was permissible to add the soldiers.

Tony was pleased. We'd meet again in several days. Before this meeting broke up, he wanted to talk about McGonagall's Quest. This proved a difficult conversation for Cotto and Firenze, who were both very much on the hot seat. They promised to search for a reason to bar a second Quest which would overlap with mine. Narcissa's age might be an issue. Having abandoned two Quests might be disqualifying. Yes, they both understood why we were all mistrustful of McGonagall and Narcissa. We should know that they had done nothing to encourage their Quest idea. They would do their best to stop them, or to at least delay them until my Quest was over. Yes, they realized how totally unfair it must seem that they were so strict with my team and so seemingly obliging to Narcissa. Yes, Firenze admitted that he had forced Narcissa upon me. Yes, he admitted that it hadn't turned out well. Yes, she may well have been a spy. Yes, he was doing her a favor, although he saw it as a favor to all of us, to help Narcissa shed the horcrux. He had done that as a matter of safety and simple compassion. It was not his intent to return Narcissa to any position of importance. Yes, he was well aware of her many misdeeds. Yes, he should have explained his position to me and asked permission to include Narcissa. Yes, he understood that I saw considerable snide in McGonagall's and Narcissa's justification for my having a sixth Witch assistant on my Quest. Yes, he certainly knew that I never asked for that. He was very sorry. Cotto professed to be even sorrier. Tony decided that he had sufficiently beaten them up verbally and switched topics.

"Okay, this was a surprisingly good meeting. If Ginny comes to my office at nine tomorrow morning, I'll introduce her to my six soldiers as their new temporary commanding officer, with Hermione also as their superior."

"I can't apparate to your office – I've never been there. There is no way for me to get to your office, other than presenting myself to the guard and passing through all of your security people. I won't do that. It is important that my face not become too well known, and I will not permit myself to be photographed or fingerprinted by your people."

"Fair enough. You've been very successful in preventing such normal procedures, and I won't push it. Harry can bring you to my office."

The meeting had lasted five hours and I was starved. I told Dad that we were off to find food and return to planning our approach to BeyondWorld. He said he wasn't finished with us yet. He seemed pleased with the outcome of the meeting, but as is my father's wont, he was determined to spend the rest of the day dissecting every utterance by all of the participants. Since I expected some of my utterances to come in for criticism, I was not looking forward to this. I had also found in the past that this was an extremely boring process.

I told Dad that we really were busy and that I really was starved. He declared that since I had to eat anyway, he would order a late lunch and we could talk while we ate.

I was trapped. I couldn't really refuse, although I expected a very long and unpleasant lunch. I was correct.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter Thirty-Seven – These Combat-Hardened Soldiers Are My New Recruits**

Harry explained that the monolith which Ellie had given to Tony prevented us from apparating into his office. There was a new protocol. We had to go to Dad's office, where either he or Dad would speak to Tony through the portrait in his office, then we waited ten minutes for Tony to clear out the corridor to his office, then we apparated into a really tiny office and walked a little over a hundred feet to Tony's office, where we requested that his security guy announce our presence. It was cumbersome, but it worked.

Tony introduced Harry, Hermione, and me to Captain Eleanor Davies, Commander Allison Harkwright, Lieutenant Kristen Marsh, Commander Bridget Pierce, Corporal Hannah Green, and Captain Marsha Brown. They were all tall, super fit, and dressed in crisp military uniforms bedecked with many ribbons and insignia. I could tell from their expressions that they were less than impressed at the sight of Hermione and me, in our formal Ministry robes. Captain Davies gave me a very long stare, before shaking her head. They seemed none too happy, when Tony reminded them that I was their commanding officer for the next several months and that they were expected to follow orders from Hermione or me.

Captain Davies still looked most displeased as she continued to size us up. I decided that this was unacceptable and a quick attitude adjustment was needed if this experiment were to have any chance of working.

"This is new to all of us. We will have to learn to work together and exhibit flexibility to adapt to conditions that may strike us as strange," I told the soldiers. "We fight in different ways. Likely we think differently. As the expert soldiers I've been assured each of you is, I'm sure you will quickly come to realize that you will be fighting on my turf and that it is very different turf than you are used to. We will do our best to avoid an actual fight, but if one happens, I can assure you that it will be very nasty. I am not at all pleased with the disdainful looks that some of you are giving Hermione and me. If you don't want to work with us, that's fine with me. I'll work with fewer than six of you, or Tony can replace you with someone perhaps not quite as qualified, but undoubtedly more open-minded. It's your decision. I'd prefer to go with both very qualified and open-minded and willing to follow my orders."

"I'm sure each of these soldiers will be happy to work with you and follow your orders. They have orders directly from me."

"Is that correct, Captain Davies?" I asked my number one challenger.

"I will make it correct, ma'am," she replied. "You are just a very new sort of fighter to me. I promised my Prime Minister that I will do what is necessary to make this mission a success and I will. I have served under other officers whom I didn't fully approve of."

"You can just call me Ginny, but you have to lose the snide and follow orders. I think perhaps a demonstration is in order. If we have Tony's permission to draw our wands in his presence?"

When Tony waved approval, I pointed by wand at Captain Davies and lifted her, until her head touched the ceiling. I gently lowered her, before saying 'petrificus totalis'. She collapsed in a heap.

I addressed the other soldiers "Captain Davies is fine and she can hear every word I say to you. She is totally paralyzed and helpless, however. I chose a spell that we use for self-defense and for capturing opponents. There are also killing spells. There are spells that can wreak a whole lot of physical damage, spells that can obliterate memories, spells that can take control of your mind, and a spell that can cause excruciating pain. The worst of these spells are illegal and I don't use them. I am the Mother of the Future and the leader of the Quest. Those are both positions of some rank and power. Hermione is my Muse. She may be the smartest woman you'll ever meet, and she knows a lot of the lore related to the places we will visit. You should know that I am a fighter, as well as a leader, and that I have killed some very evil and powerful magical beings. Since you are obviously wondering, I'll tell you that I'm eighteen and Hermione is nineteen years old, but we grow up faster in my community than in yours. I don't expect that you will like me. I hope that you will come to respect me. I absolutely expect that you will obey my orders. To disobey my orders could render me incapable of keeping you alive in the very dangerous places we will be visiting. One of those places is very civilized and opulent, but it is extremely dangerous. It is ruled by an actual God, who operates by rules and expectations which you don't understand, who could kill you just by raising a finger, and who will value your life almost not at all.

"I know that Tony has told you that a part of your duties is spying. That's fine. It requires that you pay attention and learn as much as you possibly can. That's what I want. I am willing to teach you. You may not be able to learn. There is a genetic requirement for much of what we will be doing. You may or may not have that, but you deserve a fair chance to succeed. I know that you think the clothes we are wearing look silly. Yours are strange to us as well. I know that you are armed and that you are trained killers. I know that I am taking a bit of a risk allowing you to join our team. I know that you don't think you are at risk from us, but believe me, if you turn against us, you will be at very great risk. I can't do a more powerful demonstration without destroying Tony's office. We'll get to that, when I take you to our training site.

"One last thing – as strange as you may find Hermione and me, I assure you that some of your other associates on the Quest will be very much stranger. We have an intelligent spider, a Centaur, a Unicorn, a Goblin, an Elf, a demi-Goddess, and several actual Goddess. One of our members looks like she is seventy years old, but she is actually over twice that age. I advise you to get along with the other members of the team and not show them the snide you've shown me. A Goddess can be easily offended by looks of disdain. Trust me, you do not want to piss off a Goddess. That's all I have to say. Unless Tony has any parting words for you, we'll be on our way."

"I'll just say that I know you will be brave and effective soldiers. I do expect you to show respect to your new commanders and the other members of their team. If this goes well, you may all expect promotions. If you mess up, you will have me to deal with. Good fortune to all of you."

I pointed my wand at Captain Davies, telling her "you can get up now. No hard feelings, I hope."

The soldiers picked up their weapons and packs, and we all stuffed ourselves into the tiny office we had apparated to. I told the soldiers that they must hold hands with us and form a circle. I requested that they not barf upon landing. Of course, I took them on an unusually long path, almost apparating at the Ministry before disapparating at the last instant to direct them first to Hermione's back yard and then to the floor of the pyramid. As I had intended, five of the six barfed their guts out. Captain Davies looked a little queazed, but held onto her breakfast. To the others, I just commented, "It gets easier the more times you travel by apparation. A quarter of Witches also barf their first time, so you're not doing all that badly."

Hermione and I used spells to remove the pools of barf and clean their uniforms. The smell still lingered.

Hermione showed them what a magical circle looked like, walked them to its center and allowed them to touch the Black Stone, showed them the runic writing behind the Stone, and gave them a good sense of the physical size of the pyramid. She brought them back to me at the far end of the pyramid, where we had arranged to have three weighted dummies set up in front of a very impressive supply of sand bags.

"I promised you a better demonstration," I told the soldiers. If you wish to examine our targets, to make sure there are no tricks involved, please do so. Captain Davies and Commander Perce carefully examined the target, hefting the dummies and a couple of sand bags.

"They're genuine," Captain Davies announced.

I asked the soldiers to move away for their own safety. Hermione and I then reached for the Black Stone, took our kneeling positions, touched the tip of our wands, quickly speaking 'Ex-ter-me-nate' and blew the target dummies to smithereens, also doing major damage to the sand bags.

"That was an example of a killing curse," I told the soldiers. "We try to avoid using it." I pointed my wand and created a new set of target dummies in front of the obliterated ones. "Now, fair's fair. Feel free to show me what your weapons can do."

Stewart had given me a demonstration of a variety of Muggle weapons, so I knew what to expect as Captain Davies stood in front of the dummies and pointed her assault rifle at them. After shredding her targets, Captain Davies had a very satisfied expression as she lowered her weapon.

"Well," I told her, "your weapon is also very effective. It works on a totally different principle than ours. That's one of the reasons you're here. I have a theory that if we use our different weapons simultaneously, it will be much harder for a dangerous foe to defend against us. Of course, you are also here as your Prime Minister's eyes and ears. This Quest is almost as important to your community as it is to ours. It is only right that you should participate and help to earn the rewards of a successful Quest. One goal is to bring our communities closer together. That is the final reason that you are here. Now, please show us what weapons you've brought. I didn't see any rocket-propelled grenade launchers. I was hoping you had at least a few things that explode."

They all hand assault rifles, combat knives, hand grenades, plastic explosive and remote detonators, air purifiers, oxygen packs, and radios. There was one rocket-propelled grenade launcher. "That will have to do," I told them. "Really, I don't know exactly what we'll encounter, so I can't know exactly what we'll need."

I told my soldiers that we would be eating and sleeping at the Hogwarts School For Magic, and that there was barely time left for a quick tour, stowing of gear, and walk to the Great Hall for lunch. I apparated us into the Slytherin common room. I divided the soldiers between the fifth and sixth level girls dorms, telling them they could leave their stuff there and wash up if they wanted to. They didn't want to wash.

I walked them through the basement, looking into the potions classroom, up to the main hallway and past Neville's office. I stopped to ask Neville to join us and introduced him to the soldiers. McGonagall passed, but just gave us a look as I walked my troops out the main entrance and deep enough into the lawn that they could get a good view of the whole castle. A quick visit to the Dumbledore tomb, the lake, and the graves and memorial to the Battle of Hogwarts completed the tour.

Hermione told them, "this memorial statue is of one of the young students who died helping to defeat the most powerful and evil Wizard of all time. We are a small school. You can see how many students died in that battle. Some were as young as eleven. Ginny and I both fought in that battle. We fought various battles during most of our time at Hogwarts. We thought it best to only introduce you to the Witches of the Quest. You'll meet them at lunch. Tomorrow you'll meet the representatives from the other magical communities. I realize it can be a lot to take in and adjust to all at once. You should know that your Prime Minister has visited Hogwarts more than once. He didn't spend enough time here to see all the things that you will see over the next week. Now, let's eat."

I walked them into the Great Hall. Neville explained the ceiling and told them that the Elves were responsible for preparing the food and making it suddenly appear. As he finished saying that, the Gryffindor table was suddenly groaning under large platters of food. "It's customary to have a celebratory banquet to welcome new arrivals," Neville told them.

I introduced Cho, Cissy, Adrienne, Mafalda, and Barb telling them that Barb was an auror, which was our combination of soldier and policeman. I told them that Adrienne was a professor, an artist, and a Siren. Adrienne had to explain the Siren part. She even gave them a demonstration, making them very, very sad and a little frightened. Lieutenant Marsh was almost reduced to tears, before Adrienne switched to happy feelings.

The food was summer-style Asian cuisine and very spicy and tasty. We were all enjoying the meal and nearly finished when McGonagall appeared in back of me.

"I know that I am no longer headmaster, and that I'm participating in what I understand you view as a rival Quest, but I still felt that I should come and meet our new arrivals. All professors have a legitimate interest, when strangers invade our school."

I invited McGonagall to join us for dessert and coffee. She was surprised, but took a seat next to Captain Davies, who was sitting as far from me as possible without leaving a gap. I introduced our guests as members of the British Army. The two commanders instantly corrected me, saying they were members of the Royal Navy. My opinion of their usefulness took a step down.

The afternoon was spent on first-year magical training. I wanted to see if any of them had just a bare minimum of magical talent. They hadn't been identified as Muggle-borns when they were Hogwarts age, but our work on the circles had greatly increased magical abilities, especially at Hogwarts. Perhaps it was enough to waken a small amount of very latent talent. This was important – I didn't expect or want the soldiers to fight with wands, but enough magical ability to mentally operate one of our special portkey belts could save a life.

Of course, it had to be my nemesis Captain Davies who showed a smidgeon of magical talent, undoubtedly causing to think magic was far easier than it actually is. By smidgeon of talent, I mean that a lot of practice and a quite good loaner wand enabled her lift half a sheet of quite thin paper about two inches from the table and keep it aloft for a full second. In truth, I had seen Hogwarts first years do worse than this during their initial lesson. Perhaps Captain Davies did have the talent.

I knew these soldiers were probably brave to the point of fearlessness, but brave on the ground is different than brave perched on a broom at five hundred feet. I walked them to the Quidditch field and told them that we were going to do a piggy-back broom ride, just so they could get a sense of how it felt, in case we needed to make a broom flight on BeyondWorld. Davies did have the talent.

I knew these soldiers were probably brave to the point of fearlessness, but brave on the ground is different than brave perched on a broom at five hundred feed. I walked them to the Quidditch field and told them that we were going to do a piggy-back broom ride, just so they could get a sense of how it felt, in case we needed to make a broom flight on BeyondWorld.

Two to a broom is tough, and we couldn't all manage it. Cho, Barb, Adrienne, and I had the only brooms which managed to get airborne, under double weight. I managed to take Captain Davies to a thousand feed and dive us through both center Quidditch rings. The others took their passengers to about five hundred feet, although Cho made it almost as high as I did. Cho and I made a second flight with the two remaining soldiers. I had Commander Harkwright for my second flight and it quickly became apparent that she was not comfortable on a broom at height. She hadn't been one of the soldiers who had given me the derisive look, so I had mercy and made a quick end to the flight, after topping out at five hundred feet. In explanation I told the others "flying really is tiring. I didn't dare be quite so adventuresome on my second flight."

Dinner was normal dinner. Harry and Dad joined our group as did Professors Trelawney and Sprout. The presence of Trew kept McGonagall at a comfortable distance and she quickly departed after bolting her food. Dad, Shacklebolt, and Harry seemed to be having a comfortable conversation with my soldiers. Either the demonstrations had softened them up or they were less skeptical of older Wizards than of young Witches, because they weren't at all snide during dinner.

Dad drew me aside after dinner and told me that although he was initially upset that I had accepted Tony's soldiers, that on further reflection and a discussion with Shacklebolt he realized that we had come too far to be able to squeeze Tony out of any knowledge his soldiers might gain. He said that he agreed with Shacklebolt that the very lethal non-magical violence that these soldiers could inflict might come in very useful during my Quest. "I'm sorry that the Muggles are as involved in our affairs as they have become, but I'm also aware both that Voldemort's mayhem forced that issue and that the goal we are working towards is re-integration with British society. So I think your decision was best under the circumstance, although a decade ago it would have been a direct violation of the Secrecy Act. You may well collect a huge amount of criticism, with demands for your incarceration from the political opposition. Events are getting away from me. There really is no turning back. I fully understand the major fears of our conservative adversaries. I also am frightened."

"So am I," I told Dad. "I'm not taking these decisions lightly, and I left you in a perfect position to veto my opinion."

We spent a week training the soldiers. They spent a transport session in the chamber beneath the floor of the pyramid, curled up against the Black Stone. They slept in the Sacred Cavern with Firenze's happy travel potion. They were introduced into my on-going conversation with the Black Stone. They even had the chance to try this with a phoenix perched upon their shoulders. Only Commander Harkwright gained any semblance of magical ability. She was useless with a wand, unable even to trigger her portkey belt, but she was able to talk to the Black Stone, but only with Fawkes on her shoulder, not with the Greek bird. Captain Davies got her own personal wand from Ollivanders, which improved her magical ability marginally. She could use the portkey belt, which was my only real intent in conducting this training. She could lift a full sheet of paper several inches. She could do a 'lumos' of the quality of a small guttering candle. Really, it was a lot better than I had expected. I would have preferred that one of the other soldiers to be the magical one. At least Captain Davies was treating me with outward respect and acting as if she thought I actually was able to teach her something worthwhile.

I didn't know how to teach the soldiers to world-walk in the absence of time in Odin's magical ovals and communion with his White Stone. I didn't even know if I or any of my trained world-walkers could walk into the mini-world of the Black Stone. That was assuming that the parchment that Hermione had found and translated was correct and that the stone it was talking about was actually my Black Stone. Hermione had snipped off a small corner of the parchment. She hadn't damaged the parchment – Hermione is incapable of such destruction of a written record – it was a frayed edge with no coloration on it.

Hermione didn't participate in the training of the soldiers. Cho and Adrienne helped me with that. So did Harry. Hermione worked on the selection of Muggle experts. She took Cissy with her, so that there would be two truthtellers, and because Cissy passed very well in the Muggle world. Uncle Reg quickly agreed to be a consultant and helped Hermione and Tony to choose the others. We added the Oxford expert on Nordic and Germanic legends, who had a special fondness for Odin and Frijjo. We added a theoretical physicist and a mathematician, because Tony and Hermione thought we needed someone who could make a bit of sense out of the reality of being able to walk between touching worlds, some of which were far, far apart when viewed by telescope. They developed a list of other experts, but didn't actually add them to our team.

Hermione reported that Uncle Reg had dated the scrap of parchment at eighteen to twenty-thousand years ago. That was very impressive, as everyone had to admit that there was no parchment in our world at that time. When Uncle Reg's equipment gave him that answer, he was more than eager to join our team.

It was time to plan our world-walk into the Black Stone. That meant a couple days of throwing out and evaluating ideas among the members of my Quest team and our Keepers, and then another meeting of Dad's larger committee.

I had been gradually introducing the soldiers to the non-Witch members of the Quest team. It hadn't gone totally well, so I had limited the exposure time. Two of the soldiers had a problem with Tendra. One had a problem with Catta. None were comfortable with Aagog. They all loved Pegasus and Cantring. Tomorrow would begin a crucial test. Planning for our world-walk into the Black Stone mini-world would throw the entire team together in close contact for two solid days. I did the best I could. I cajoled Aagog into promising that she would stop telling the others that she bites.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter Thirty-Eight – This Is How We're Going To Enter Stone-World**

I had no way of testing whether my soldiers could world-walk, without actually world-walking. Worse than that, I didn't know if my original teams' world-walking ability was only usable if we started at Odin's White Column. My intuition said that if we could world-walk there, we could world-walk here. Even if that was true, there was another problem: I didn't know the point to start from, or the direction to move, in order to enter the mini-world of the Black Stone. Just thinking that was an admission that I already accepted that Hermione's parchment was accurate and that it spoke of my Stone. I don't know why I wanted to believe that so badly.

Partly, I wanted a world-walking exploration which was ours alone and which Odin didn't control or even know about. Secondly, I saw this as a way to fix the Black Stone and return it to its prior status as reliable friend. A lot of how I thought of myself as the Mother of the Future was wrapped up in my relationship to the Black Stone. It had helped me to organize my Light Guardian memories and then repaired my badly wounded head. Pieces of the Black Stone were inside my head. That Stone had been my protector when I battled the upper level Slytherins and in other fights. It was a handy source of knowledge. It had allowed me to visit other worlds and to lead a spirit army against Azkaban and the Dementors. I felt a little hollow not being able to call upon the Stone for help and knowledge. I felt deceitful having to keep secrets from my friend. The problems at the start of my Quest had damaged what I had thought of as very solid friendships with the Stone, Firenze, and Cotto. I wanted my friends back.

My team's first day of planning for our world-walk into the world of the Stone was so unproductive that it left me questioning my ability to lead the group. Three of my soldiers couldn't conceal their distaste of sharing the pyramid floor with Aagog. Their eyes kept returning to Aagog, with wary glances, as they kept their hands on their weapons. It made note taking obviously awkward, which just called more attention to them and Aagog.

Finally, I asked Aagog to confirm that she would only bite our enemies. "Of course," she replied. "I would not harm my friends. I am in complete control of whom and when I bite. I bit the attacker at the aboveground circle. In months living in small caverns with my new friends, I have bitten none. Some have carried me on their backs and I did not bite."

Looking at Commander Harkwright, I asked if this satisfied everyone's concern enough that they could stop playing with their weapons and at least lay them on the floor. They did and that helped a little. Things were friendlier on the team, but we weren't coming up with anything that I would describe as a good idea.

We listed and discussed the possible dangers. We listed what we would like to know, before we felt confident about world-walking into Black Stone-world. We listed what we would take with us, both for exploration and survival. Hermione said that we were assuming we wouldn't be staying more than a few hours, but it might take days. We would need our normal cooking, eating, and sleeping gear, as well as the dreaded buckets and straw pile. We filled in that list as well and organized supplies. It was progress of sorts, but the big questions were still unanswered.

On the second morning, Captain Davies was a very great help. When we returned to the pyramid floor after breakfast, she pointedly sat next to Aagog and calmly talked with her. Her assault rifle was stacked against the far wall, well out of reach. She suggested that everyone would be more relaxed if her comrades put the same distance between themselves and their weapon. Commander Harkwright seemed a bit anxious, but she and the other soldiers complied with the request.

Captain Davies then asked permission to make a statement and ask a few questions. Despite our earlier dispute, I found myself warming to the woman and said that of course she should speak her mind.

"Well, as I understand what we all said yesterday, neither you nor Hermione has any more sources to research for information about what we might find in Stone-world. The Stone might know, but you don't want to ask it, which I understand. I assume you have determined that the Stone doesn't have the equivalent of ears. Otherwise we shouldn't be meeting here, if you aren't willing to share your planning with the Stone."

That was certainly true. I didn't think the Stone was equipped for aural snooping. It had communicated with me through mental link and when I had become one with it. It had never indicated that I could merely stand before it and speak. Still, I wasn't sure. If I was wrong, then the damage was already done. "I have no evidence that it can hear spoken words. I have to make an effort to communicate mentally. You've all seen and participated in that process. If it has ears, then the damage is already done."

"Okay, so we assume that doesn't matter, either because the Stone can't hear us, or because it is in control of itself and understands that we want to help it. You've already spoken to the Stone about its blind spots and about the entity which controls it. Since it drew a blank, it likely can't tell us much about Stone-World. That is likely part of its blind spot.

"That leaves us only three options. The first is to enter Stone-world in force, with no more intelligence than provided by Hermione's parchment. The second is to send a small reconnaissance team into that world, while most of the team remains safely in this spot. The third is to send an animal or machine to look around on our behalf. I don't know if we could get a machine or animal in there, without one of our Witches walking it in, so option three is just a subset of option two."

"That helps to organize our thinking," I thanked Captain Davies, "but it's not absolutely correct. From what Odin said and showed me, I'm fairly certain that Blacky, my raven, could cross into that world. Blacky is with Odin. If we involve Odin in this operation, Blacky could surveil for us. Mafalda, Brighid, and Adrienne know Odin better than the rest of us. Should we go back to Asgard and ask his help?"

"I don't think my particular knowledge of Odin will be of much help in making your decision," Adrienne demurred. "I think there are grounds for trusting him. If nothing else, he still wants our help, and if he was ill-inclined, we would be dead."

"Odin is also a principle judge of our Quest," Mafalda cautioned. "We are expected to be self-reliant. We were sent back home to relax and to complete necessary preparations to enter BeyondWorld. This is part of those preparations. I don't think we should be running back to Asgard for help."

"I agree," Brighid seconded that view. "It would make us look timid and incapable of doing what must be done."

"So we are back to basic options one and two. If we follow option two, then I must lead the scouting party. I'm the only one of us who possibly can communicate from that world. I'm quite sure that if Harry is on the floor of the pyramid, and if we each have a phoenix, that I will be able to send a message to him. A small group of us could enter Stone-world using invisibility cloaks. That likely is fairly safe, although there are certainly other ways that a baddy could detect our presence."

"I didn't realize that you possessed invisibility devices," Captain Davies sounded impressed. "Could you demonstrate them for us? That's a capability our military has wanted for a long time. Also, how could you be detected, while you were using the device?"

I really couldn't tell if she was being really helpful or just a really good spy, but decided to explain. I asked Harry and Ron to get the two Peverell cloaks and some of the best Weasley knock-offs. While waiting for Harry and Ron I explained.

"It's not a device. It's a cloak made of cloth that is imbued with great magic, which we can't fully replicate. I've asked Harry to bring the cloaks along with several inferior versions that my brother and his business partner made. You'll see for yourself that they do stop prying eyes from seeing you, but you can still be detected by sound, or smell, or because you stumbled over an alarm spell, or if you looked through a magical force detector, although the detector has a tough time with the real-deal Peverell cloaks."

Harry and Ron arrived and gave a demonstration of the genuine and Weasley invisibility cloaks. At one point, Captain Davies commented "that is most impressive, but I can still see his sneakers. But yes, that definitely could assist our scouting party.

"What I don't like about this option is that we risk losing our leader, since she must be a part of the scouting party."

We compromised on a combination of the two options. I would lead a scouting party of three and would quickly communicate with Harry. If I needed help, or decided it was safe, most of the rest of the team would move into Stone-world. If I was silent for more than three minutes, they would all move in.

"Let's keep the scouting party simple, just Ginny and one of us," Commander Harkwright suggested.

"None of us can world-walk and it would be hard to fit a Unicorn under one of those cloaks," Captain Davies told her.

It was decided that Brighid and I would make the trip. We'd explain the plan to Dad and his committee in the morning.

We spent the rest of the day working on details. Hermione had the most salient comment: "You may be at a disadvantage in fighting. You can't draw power from the Stone, without the Stone knowing exactly where you are. Can Brighid do the 'Ex-ter-me-nate!' curse with you?"

Brighid said she could. I said we weren't going to fight at all. If we saw anything dangerous, we'd just scoot right back here, before we could be detected.

Aagog said that she wanted to come with us and could ride on my back again. I was getting surprisingly used to and trusting of this. "I am small and I can climb walls and walk on ceiling to spy," Aagog told us. This addition to the plan was accepted and Harry promised to have one of George's invisibility cloaks tailored to fit Aagog.

I decided to have dinner with just Harry, back at our house. I'd meet the team at breakfast. Dad's committee would join us on the floor of the pyramid. I liked that better than traveling to the Ministry. The pyramid floor is uncomfortable enough that the meeting wouldn't last forever.

Our meeting with Dad's committee started with a lot of contention, but we reached an agreement before lunch. Captain Davies was a key ally in the meeting.

The first problem was that King Gobbledegook wanted to be brought up to speed on absolutely everything. After thirty minutes of updating, interrupted every other minute by the King's demands for more detail, Tony finally suggested that he should chat off-line with his daughter. I was urged to please move on to explaining the plan that my team had decided upon.

I gave a very quick summary of the conclusions which drove our decision, and then launched into the recommendation to scout Stone-World, with our whole team ready to move in quickly.

Dad did not approve of my leading the scouting party. I explained why this was necessary. Tony thought one of his soldiers should be going with me. Captain Davies explained why this was impossible, and reiterated that the rest of the team would be only moments away.

Cotto thought an Elf would be more help than a spider. King Gobbledegook thought Tendra would be a tremendous help, because she understood magical circles so well and was an expert on caverns. I was left wondering why it was so important to have an expert on caverns with me.

The plan was agreed, but then Tony and Dad demanded to stay on the pyramid floor with the rest of the team. Again, Captain Davies changed his mind, telling him that it was possible something nasty would try to follow us back here and that it was far too dangerous a place for the Prime Minister or Minister of Magic to be.

Their fallback position was lots of aurors and soldiers on the floor of the pyramid 'just in case'. We settled upon four more female soldiers and a half dozen female aurors.

Captain Davies told Tony and Dad that it would be bad to lose what ever element of surprise we had. If this mission was to have its best chance of success, we must act at once. While we gathered our gear and staged ourselves to move into Stone-world, Mom managed to get Aagog into a little Weasley Invisibility… whatever. It was a very odd looking garment and Mom had to sew it in place. I was proud of how well my mother did around a large, very poisonous spider and how well Aagog did with a sharp needle darting around her body. Fortunately, neither trembled, or the results could have been disastrous.

Mom, Dad, Tony and the other civilians were gone. Shacklebolt stayed. After a fifteen minute discussion with his daughter, King Gobbledegook was also gone.

Brighid and I were under Peverell invisibility cloaks. Aagog was riding on my shoulders. Brighid and I had gifts from the soldiers of what Hermione assured me were 'the most modern night-vision goggles' strapped onto our faces in front of our eyes. The pyramid lights had been turned way down, but the world still seemed unbearably bright.

With the Dumbledore viewer in my right hand and my wand in my left, I reached deep into my mind for the world-walker's thought process, actively seeking the curling ribbon I must walk along. I saw a bright spot on the side of the Stone facing the control room.

Harry and Ron guided us by our arms. Helping us get under and over the silver wiring of the circle. They left us as we passed the inner circle of crystals. I walked straight for the bright spot. I thought I saw the end of the ribbon on the floor of the pyramid, sticking out a couple feet and disappearing into the stone.

I took Brighid's arm and walked us both onto the ribbon.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter Thirty-Nine – Inside Stone-Mini-World**

It was very dark, but the glowing spot on the stone was still right ahead of me. I had felt the tingle course through my body, so I knew I was no longer back in my world. I was reassured that the Black Stone was still right where it had been.

Brightness came suddenly, so suddenly that my eyes and head got a bit of a shock before my goggles automatically dimmed, as Captain Davies had promised they would. In my haste to whip off the goggles, so that I could actually see clearly enough and in a wide-enough arc to defend myself, I dropped my wand.

As I knelt to pick up the wand, I realized that ducking down wasn't a bad defensive posture at all. As I grabbed my wand, I felt it sitting upon a stone floor. I turned my body, so that my back was pressed up against the Stone and surveyed the space around me. There was an inward-sloping stone wall ahead of me. There were three concentric arcs of crystals and stones in my near field. I was still inside the pyramid. I rephrased that in my mind, I was inside a pyramid – the wall I faced seemed to be farther from me than it should be.

I stood up and reached out to touch Brighid, so we didn't become separated. I stashed my goggles inside my robe. We didn't speak. It seemed a little silly, now that the pyramid lights had come on to herald our arrival, but the team had decided that we should not speak, lest the sound of even our whispered voices be detected. I did whisper 'no' when Brighid started to remove her invisibility cloak. A watcher might know that something was amiss when the lights came up, but they'd still be trying to figure out what had happened. I didn't want them to see us.

Without Harry to guide me and encumbered by the cloak and Brighid, I didn't want to negotiate my way through the maze of silver wires linking the crystals and stones. I whispered, with my mouth pressed against the top of Brighid's cloak "stand with your back against the Stone. We'll shuffle around it and get a quick view on all sides. Just wait a second, while I message Harry that we haven't been attacked."

Harry wasn't pleased that the pyramid had instantly detected our presence, but agreed that it was best to stay under the cloaks. He agreed to delay sending the rest of the team, or rather, he relayed that decision from Hermione. Apparently Bane was in the process of summoning the remaining two Unicorns, just in case. This breeding pair had been kept back in the sanctuary 'just in case', but now Bane had decided that they might be needed in an instant to send soldiers and aurors to my team's rescue.

I felt the weight of this message as its full meaning registered: I had decided to lead a mission which could result in the deaths of every Unicorn on our world. Rather than improving magic and driving away the dark magic, my personal contribution to history might be the total destruction of the Unicorns and the permanent end of magic. It was a simple equation: no Unicorns equals no magic. That was the Covenant in a nutshell. I set aside my fear and drew strength from the gravity of the situation.

I edged to my right, along the surface of the Stone, as I tugged at Brighid's cloak as a signal to follow me. It took longer than it should have to reach the corner of the Black Stone – a whole lot longer. I messaged to Harry that both the Stone and the pyramid were definitely bigger in this world than in our own.

Feeling with my hand, I worked my body around the corner and studied the new pyramid wall in front of me. It had the familiar railing and balcony path two-thirds of the way up the wall. I followed the wall upward. Near the top, there appeared to be a small balcony with a door in back of it. This was just ten feet beneath the ceiling of the… what! There was no 'ceiling'. In this world the Black Stone rose all the way to the top of the pyramid. For all I knew, it passed through the top of the pyramid. This was different enough to warrant another whisper to Harry, as I directed Brighid to look up at what I was seeing.

"We're not in Hogwarts, anymore." She whispered back to me.

I told Harry that I badly wanted to apparate to the far wall, just to get some sense of perspective on the size of the Stone, but thought I should finish my circuit of the Stone first. Harry agreed, suggesting that since I was already at a corner, that I should measure this side of the pyramid as I shuffled along it. I could do this, using an old trick I developed for fun. I could step to the side, moving exactly one yard at a time. The precise tension on my hamstrings guaranteed an accuracy of within an inch per shuffle. I whispered to Brighid that I would be counting paces and focusing my attention ahead and to my right, which was our forward-progress direction. She should watch for danger to our left.

As I shuffled past a hundred paces, I realized both that this Stone was a lot bigger than my own and that the floor was clean of dust and tiny pebbles. Someone had been here fairly recently. The light coming on upon our arrival was not just a repeating of my long dead and abandoned Stone coming to life as it received its first visitor in two millennia. I supposed that it could have been as much as a couple of decades since someone had been here and cleaned, but certainly no longer than that. I was thinking it had been a lot shorter time than that, perhaps yesterday. Perhaps even now, a watcher who knew about invisibility cloaks, or Gods who could render themselves invisible, was desperately scanning the pyramid floor from the control booth, hoping to catch a stray shadow or hint of movement, as the rare small pebble was accidentally kicked along the floor. Perhaps a watcher was simply sitting back and waiting, already having called for reinforcements, secure in the knowledge that the intruders were bound to stumble through one of the myriad alarm spells guarding the pyramid. These were not encouraging thoughts.

I leaned forward to get a look at as much of the walls to my right and left as could be seen. I was suddenly determined to find the control landing and determine if it was occupied. To my left, I could only see the edge of the far wall, since the Black Stone blocked almost all of it. To my right, I could see more wall. I stopped to scan for the control landing. I was sure it must be on this wall, trusting myself enough to believe I wouldn't have missed its presence on the first wall I examined.

There it was, almost at the top of the wall and as far to my right as I could see. No, that was another balcony, with a door in back of it. But wasn't that a railed path from the balcony to another door, closer to the side wall? I was sure that it was. I reached into my robes and pulled out the small hand-held telescope which Hermione had given me. Steadying myself against the Black Rock, I scanned the top of the wall. It's hard to find the right spot while looking through as narrow a field of view as the telescope provided. It took half a minute to find the balcony, which was unoccupied and which definitely had both a door in back of it and a path leading from it. I followed the path with my eye and telescope, moving along to the second door. The path ended at this door. A little farther to the left and up just a tad, I detected the familiar row of slits, which marked the outer wall of the control landing.

There was no light inside the control landing. Either it wasn't occupied or our watcher was in super-stealth mode. I stared at the slits for several minutes, until my arm tired enough that it shook. I could detect no motion behind the slits. That didn't mean that a stealthy watcher wasn't scanning the pyramid floor, but it gave some hope that we were alone. I reported that fact to Harry, also telling him that we were going to continue moving along the current edge of the Black Stone. I told Harry {{I've gone a hundred sideways paces. That's a hundred yards. I can tell that there is still a fair amount of Stone to go.}}

I resumed side-stepping and counting my steps. I reached one-hundred-and-thirty-four at the same time I reached the corner. Looking beyond the corner, I saw: another circle, a tiny one – quite similar to Ba'al's circle or the one in Odin's foundry. I moved forward, away from the Stone a little, to allow Brighid to pass behind me and view the second circle, while I reported the news to Harry.

Brighid whispered that we should try to apparate to the edge of the central stone of that second circle. That stone might be tall enough to shield us from the control landing, if we crouched down, before apparating. I relayed this suggestion to Harry and he said we should wait, while he and the rest of the team considered whether this was a wise move.

Brighid and I sat on the floor and rested with backs up against the Black Stone, while we awaited the group decision from our world. "Is it my imagination, or this Black Stone getting warmer?" Brighid asked me.

My mind had been focuses elsewhere, but I now realized that the Stone was now at least several degrees warmer than when we had first touched it. Our presence was causing changes, which our watcher couldn't ignore. He, she, or, it must be in a state of high excitement, approaching panic about the unknown intrusion.

I informed Harry, telling him it was now or never. Either we apparated and examined the second circle, or we had to retreat back to Hogwarts. Harry said they were close to approving further exploration and that we should just quickly go ahead, while we still could.

I didn't know whether we even could apparate inside this pyramid. We might have to make our way to the control landing and introduce ourselves to the Stone. I saw no danger in making the attempt to apparate and I wasn't eager to set out on foot across the pyramid floor. I linked hands with Brighid, whispering that I would try to apparate us and, if I failed, we would test her Godly powers.

I focused on a spot right in front of the central rock of the second circle, wanting to make sure we were well clear of any silver wiring. I concentrated fiercely, aiming to bring us in just a safe couple of inches above the stone floor. I was truly amazed when my effort succeeded. I whispered, "let's not touch the rock just yet, it may be alarmed."

I messaged Harry that we were safe and inside the second circle. He said that we might as well quickly explore the circle.

I could tell that the central stone was a lodestone. It appeared to be only about four feet tall and a little more across. I awkwardly moved my feet, to pivot my body and look at the outer rings of crystals. There were only two rings and they were both made of short crystals, rather than big stones. It matched the pattern of Odin's circle: clear crystals not quite three feet tall were directly in front of us. Five feet farther away was the outer ring of the strange silicon shapes I had seen in Odin's circle. Here, they seemed to be a little over two feet tall and almost a foot across at their bases. The silver lattice connecting the crystals was extremely complex and delicate. I didn't want to walk out of the circle and risk damaging the lattice.

I reported all of this to Harry, telling him it was time to examine the central stone. He told me to wait. I was getting a little tired squatting on the floor and told Brighid that we should help each other to stand. She did better than I did, but we both avoided either backing into the central stone or lurching forward into the silver lattice. We took a last scan of the space ahead of us. Seeing no danger, we turned to face the central stone, which was clearly a lodestone. I could see at least on clear crystal atop the lodestone and I was eager to explore it.

I was proud of my caution and patience. Old Ginny would already have climbed atop the lodestone, perhaps to be whisked off to another world, as Baal had been. Now I merely fidgeted, while I waited for Harry and my team to just make up their minds. I was confident that Hermione would come up with a safe way to see what lay atop the lodestone.

Harry relayed Hermione's suggestion: Aagog should lower herself from the ceiling and examine the top of the lodestone. I passed this on to Aagog, telling her that if she was separated from us when baddies arrived that we would meet right where we were now and that I would summon all of our fighters.

Aagog quickly scurried across the floor to the Black Stone. She could move surprisingly fast and could bend her legs, so that her belly scooted along the stone floor allowing her to pass under all of the silver lattices. Given her size and home-made invisibility cloak, I doubted that any watchers could spot her from the elevation of the control landing. I knew where she was and I lost sight of her before she reached the Black Stone.

We waited and we waited, but there was no sign of Aagog. I feared both that we were losing too much of what was certainly the very limited time we had before our enemy appeared in force and that Aagog must have stumbled upon some sort of alarm/attack spell, which had injured, killed, or transported her. Perhaps the Black Stone had simply continued charging up and was now too hot for her to climb. I reached out to whisper my concerns to Harry and asked him to have the team think of an alternative next step. I was impatiently waiting for Harry to get back to me, when I Brighid nudged me and pointed to Aagog descending on a spider thread, right above the center of the lodestone.

Aagog came almost to the surface of the stone. She then pulled up a little and started to swing back and forth. She almost reached us, as the arc of her swing got wider and wider. At her nearest point, she released from her thread, aimed right at my chest. I told Harry that I had Aagog and she was about to report what she had learned.

"The Black Stone is now very warm, but it is cooler the higher you climb. I check what you call the control landing slits. There is nobody behind the slits. On top of rock, I see five clear crystals in a little circle and a big purple stone in a silver nest. Purple stone is right in the center. There is no 'Good Elf' plate. I think it is safe."

I could tell how excited Harry was, when I relayed this report to him. Apparently Hermione was even more excited. Harry told me that Hermione was very excited about finding what she was very sure was the purple diamond, or at least a purple diamond. She didn't think the small circle could function without it and wanted to see what happened if we removed the diamond.

{[Very excited] Hermione is going to be in constant communication with our Black Stone. She wants to learn if that communication is broken, when you remove the purple diamond. Give her a minute and then do it. Apparate back here as soon as you have the diamond. Hermione says it is safest if you apparate about five feet up and 'Accio!' the diamond on the way down. No, wait a second… Hermione says that will likely damage the silver nest. She wants you and Brighid to apparate upward, before you snatch the diamond. First time is to fix the design of the silver nest in your minds. Second time is for you to 'accio' the diamond and Brighid to observe how badly you damage the silver nest.}

Alright, I could do that. We both apparated. I used a self-levitation spell, which I had copied from the Elves and dredged up from my Light Guardian knowledge. I couldn't descend as slowly as Catta could, but the spell did give me twice as long a look at the diamond's nest. It looked like a very elaborate gem mounting, made of tiny silver wires, which just barely extended onto the top facet of the diamond. I told Brighid that I needed one more look. She agreed, so we both apparated for a second view to add a little detail to the general design we had observed on our first ascent.

I was now ready to snatch the diamond. I apparated, pointed my wand at the diamond, and whispered "Accio, diamond". There was a bit of a ripping sound, then the diamond was zooming toward me. I snared it out of the air with my non-wand hand.

Back on the ground, I got Aagog back upon my shoulders, held hands with Brighid, and asked her to apparate us back home. It worked.

I held up my left arm, showing the diamond to a very excited Hermione and Harry. "Big question," I asked Hermione "what do we do with this. Should we just give it to Odin, or what?"

"I vote for 'or what?' Harry told me."

"The first thing is to figure out exactly how our removing the diamond from the little circle has changed our world and especially if it has made any change in our Black Stone. I was in continuous contact with it. At what I assume was the exact time you removed the diamond, our Black Stone told me that it suddenly felt 'happier' and thought it was able to enter some new parts of itself. We must explore that in more detail, before we visit Odin. I think our approach to Odin should be that we found a purple diamond, which might not be the purple diamond, always assuming what is in your hand actually is a diamond, and that we wanted to check to see if this freed his Valkyrie or caused any changes in Asgard or any of his other worlds."

Hermione managed to say all of that without taking a breath. Now, fully re-aerated, she continued with her advice. "I want to let Uncle Reg and the experts he is identifying examine this stone. My biggest question is whether it is natural or artificial? If artificial, how old is it?"

Brighid, who had heard every word we had said, gave me a stern warning. "It is only fair that you make a quick investigation to determine if we need the purple diamond to go back where you found it. Perhaps two days at most. Beyond that, it would be very foolish not to take the diamond to Odin. He promised you a big reward for the diamond. What he didn't say, but you should be smart enough to realize, is that there will be an even bigger punishment, if you try to hide the diamond from him. You really have no idea how powerful he is."

"Of course we will take the diamond to Odin," Hermione reassured Brighid. "I think a day should be enough time to do what we must do."


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter Forty – Lots To Do Before We Meet Odin**

I suddenly realized that Odin had told us that a circle using the purple diamond could influence all of his worlds. Perhaps Odin needed to know immediately. "We should check with Odin to see if anything bad happed in Asgard or his other worlds, when we removed the purple diamond. I doubt that's the case – I think that little circle was the bit of sabotage we were looking for, but I might be wrong and another world may have depended upon that circle."

Hermione said that one of us could world-walk back to Asgard from Durmstrang and talk to Odin. "Given his attempt to mead you into his bed, I'm very reluctant for one of us to travel alone. Perhaps Adrienne could visit him?"

"Probably not fair to Adrienne. I'll try to summon Blacky. We can't be sure, but I have a gut feeling that our Black Stone is now safe. I'll try to reach through it to Blacky."

I should not have been surprised that this did not work. Blacky could only know what Odin or I had taught him. I hadn't trained him to communicate with me through my Black Stone. It took me a half hour to pull it off and it strained the limits of my current abilities, but I managed to talk through my Black Stone to the Durmstrang White Column, to the Asgard White Column, and finally to Blacky. At least, I managed to communicate as simple a message as 'come to me'. That might work. Blacky could fly between worlds, but that didn't guarantee that he could fly to this world. He certainly couldn't fly into the pyramid.

We left our extra aurors and soldiers to guard the pyramid, under Shacklebolt's supervision, and returned to the surface to plan. This far into the Quest, any excuse to move to the surface was welcome. I linked hands with everyone in a giant circle and apparated us to my back yard. I felt like I had pulled a muscle inside my head. Apparating that many persons, including beings as large as Centaurs and Unicorns, is a very difficult thing to do, and it burns a lot of energy. My head hurt and I couldn't avoid barfing on my lawn. It was embarrassing.

I suddenly had second thoughts about meeting at my house. I didn't want Blacky to lead Odin here. He was too powerful a God for me to be comfortable with him knowing where I lived. It seemed too late to change the venue. Harry had gone off to check on the quality of magic across Britain. Hermione had taken the purple gem, probably a diamond, and gone off to meet her Uncle Reg. Dad and Tony and Viktor, who was checking on the state of magic across the German Wizarding State, had all been told to come here.

I told the group that I planned for all of us to world-walk into the Black Stone mini-world before we went to bed tonight. Although I thought I gave a very detailed description of all that we had seen, Aagog and Brighid each had details to add.

Brighid noted that the smaller circle was clearly quite new. She said that the fine silver lattice connecting the crystals always looked a lot shinier within its first year or two of life. If the lattice wasn't regularly updated, or at least cleaned, it developed a very noticeable dull tarnish, as well as a coating of adhered dust. She would swear that the small circle was less than two years old – at the very least, its silver lattice had been totally replaced within the past two years. The silver lattices on the larger circle around that world's black stone hadn't been touched in at least a hundred years. It looked close to coming undone in spots. She would stake her reputation on that particular latticework being over five centuries old. She couldn't explain the relative cleanliness of the floor. Perhaps a simple-minded house-keeper lacking the skill to repair a magical circle.

Aagog told us, "What you call the control landing looked empty for more than days. There was no smell of persons. I stand on slits and smell only stone and dust. Black stone does not stop at ceiling of pyramid."

I thanked Aagod and Brighid and told the rest of the group that the added information increased my resolve that we must explore outside the pyramid. Besides my curiosity to know if a second Hogwarts lurked outside this pyramid, I thought the world outside the pyramid might be home to the malign entity who had interfered with my Black Stone. I would feel negligent if I didn't have a look.

When the discussion about our entry into mini-world petered out, I had the team lie on their backs on my lawn and try to contact the various White Columns and my Black Stone.

This prompted Cho to ask, "is it safe to commune with the new black stone in mini-world? I think we should try. It may have a lot to tell us. I just fear that it made be booby-trapped to grab our minds and not let go. I am not suggesting that we try to become one with that particular stone. That WOULD be dangerous."

"I think we have to try to communicate with that stone," I told Cho. "I would have done that during our scouting expedition, but I was afraid of alerting that stone's master. At least next time we'll have far more wands on our side and the knowledge that it is possible to apparate from that pyramid back to our own pyramid. That gives me confidence that our portkey belts will also work."

Harry was the first to return, and he brought Dad, Tony, and Stewart with him. Magic across Britain was just fine. Nobody reported a problem, and some Wizards had told Harry that some null locations or locations with spotty magic were now perfectly fine.

I was just about to repeat my explanation for the new arrivals, when Viktor arrived. The state of magic in his realm was as good as it had ever been, he assured me. I made my update quick, because Blacky had arrived halfway through it, and was now perched on my left shoulder, waiting to whisper to me.

Blacky said no magic problems in Asgard or elsewhere in Odin's realm. Odin was coming… very soon. Not what I wanted at all.

Hermione was the next arrival. She had brought Uncle Reg with her. He looked to be about sixty but, as a muggle, could certainly be younger than that. He was amazed to meet a Centaur, and an Elf, a Goblin, an actual Unicorn, and a spider who greeted him by name. He seemed a very adaptable soul for a muggle, taking all these strange beings in stride and even allowing Aagog to perch on his knee. He spoke very fast and in excited tones that sometimes caused his voice to become squeaky, as he told us what he had learned.

"Your most beautiful gem certainly is a diamond. If it were a natural diamond, it would certainly count as the rarest and most valuable diamond on Earth. This one is artificial, not that the best materials scientists could create a gem of this size and quality.

"I should give you a little background. Purple diamonds, and this one is purple – not the somewhat less uncommon lavender - were once thought to be impossible. They are the black swans of the diamond world. They are only mined in Australia, so were unknown until about two hundred years ago. Nothing anywhere near this size has ever been found. But the strongest evidence comes from my analytical instruments.

"Naturally occurring lavender to purple diamonds are caused by excess hydrogen inside the diamond for the lavender, or lattice dislocations, in the case of the purple. That's why a perfect purple diamond is an impossibility. This one is perfect. The color comes from potassium and a lesser amount of rubidium atoms substituted into the crystal lattice. These atoms are distributed perfectly uniformly throughout your diamond. Ergo, someone manufactured it, although I have no idea how that could be accomplished.

"I can't tell you how old it is. I'd have to destroy it to do that and, even then, dating techniques likely wouldn't work. I can't even tell you if the creator built it from scratch or introduced the potassium and rubidium into an existing white diamond. Thank you for allowing me to see it. It is every bit as remarkable as my new friend Aagog."

I didn't have the heart to tell Uncle Reg that Aagog I had seen Aagog bite, to very lethal effect. On the other hand, Aagog seemed to have quite taken to Uncle Reg.

We had just begun to discuss the meaning of Uncle Reg's news, coupled with the recent age of the silver lattice in the small circle, when Odin made an exaggerated entrance.

I had been speaking, when the surprise of a big roll of thunder and flash of lightning on this brightly sunny day, pushed me into slack-jawed silence. Two ravens flitted among us and then with a loud bang Odin stood before us.

I made introductons. Hermione handed the diamond to Odin. Odin stood in silence, examining his prize.

"Thank you. This will help a lot," he told us. "I know you wanted to bring the diamond to me, but I feared it would be stolen. It is vitally important. Yes, this is either the gem I sought, or else its twin. You shall be well rewarded, but for now I have work to do."

He and his ravens were gone. They left Blacky behind. We had found the diamond and now it was Odin's. He hadn't mentioned Sigrun returning, so presumably he still needed us to rescue her from BeyondWorld. I couldn't help wondering how we would be treated when we were no longer needed.

Others apparently thought the same. "That was rather brusque, even for a major God," Brighid commented. "He didn't seem at all interested in talking to the Minister or the Prime Minister."

"For all his power, Odin is not a multi-tasker," Adrienne replied. "He won't come up for air until he has built his new circle. We will all have to pay attention to see if any big changes happen when he turns the thing on. As you could see for yourselves, he doesn't need the diamond or the new circle to visit our world, and he doesn't have to enter it only by the established walking points. I don't know how he did that."

"Trickery!" Mafalda assured her. "I'll bet he world-walked to Durmstrang and staged his elaborate arrival from there. That's how he operated in the ancient days. He liked to arrive to a peal of thunder and flash of lightning. He can control the weather, you know. Feel lucky that he didn't decide to include a torrential shower. He did that on the day I met him. The sky was cloudless, but the rain – not to mention the hail – was incessant. I was nearly drowned and pelted senseless. He gave no end of apologies, but I think it amused him."

"I know this has been a great distraction," Hermione stated the obvious, "but we really do need to walk back into the other pyramid. We no longer need to do it before Odin arrives, but it would still be nice to finish our explorations before its owner or usurper comes back."

"We don't want to delay you," Dad said, pointing at Tony to share the blame, "but we'd like to come with you and see the other circles. We'd like to be able to say we've visited one new world."

"Fine," I told him, "but first sign of trouble and you're going to be walked out of there. We are still not overly endowed with Unicorns, so there is a real danger of someone being left behind. I won't ferry the team in in shifts. The Unicorns are loaded. Either the two of you can side-walk with Hermione and me or you can't. Agreed?"

Dad was taken aback, both by my boldest, but I think also that I had actually said yes, without giving him twenty reasons why he must stay safely behind. He agreed to my rules.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter Forty-One – Marching Into Black-Stone Mini-World**

There was only one task which absolutely had to be done, before we all entered the mini-world. Hermione and I had to commune with our own Black Stone and briefly become one with it.

We engaged in a quick three-way Stone conversation, learning that it still fell altogether well and then telling it what must be done. The Stone told us that we could become one with it, without lying in the Sacred Cavern or resorting to Firenze's herbal tea. We wouldn't even need to ride the moving ribbon. All that was required was to will ourselves to be part of the Stone.

Hermione and I debated the wisdom of linking hands to ensure that we stayed together inside the Stone and left it at the same time. We decided that we could cover more of the Stone if we were not together. The Stone and both of us would time our visit for precisely two hours.

As soon as I was inside the Stone, I recognized both that it was at peace and fully self-controlled, but more importantly that it was still my friend, who wished to help me. It directed my attention to a part of itself, of which it had just gained minimal awareness. As the Stone and I were constantly sharing thoughts and information at incredible speed, I was able to drag the Stones awareness along with me as I explored the newly opened portion of itself.

There was a lot of Quest knowledge there. I would explore that later. There was the source of the phony visions, ancient knowledge, and imperatives, which had misguided my Quest. The Stone and I agreed to expunge this section. A few thin silver wires were severed and that source of evil guidance was gone. There were hints of the hidden malefactor, but not enough to identify it.

At the heart of this region, I stumbled upon a smaller purple diamond. I tried to clutch it in my hand, but my hand was spread across twenty feet of rock. Afraid to lose the diamond, I locked my mind onto it and told the Stone that I must apparate away. The Stone instructed me how I must do this, in order to avoid the biggest splinch of all time.

I had to strain my mind, with the help of the Stone itself as well as Stone-power, to organize all the diffuse parts of me and segregate out the larger mass of stone, silver, and crystallites as I apparated. If I hadn't spent so much time studying Witch painting and sculpture, it would have taken me a day to accomplish.

As it was, I found myself flat on my back on the floor of the pyramid, the purple diamond clutched in my left hand, and desperately reaching out to draw Stone power as I found myself too enervated to raise myself to a sitting position. It was all I could do to whisper out to Harry {{chocolate! I desperately need chocolate}}

Harry sat me up and fed me two whole chocolate bars – one with almonds and one with bitter orange. I was still drawing on Stone power. I drank a pint of water. I had only been in the Stone for an hour and so had time to fully recover and to convince Harry of my renewed health and vigor, before Hermione returned. She was in much better shape than I was.

In the need to reanimate myself, I had forgotten about the diamond, but now proudly showed it to Harry and Hermione. "This is what that new circle communicated with inside the Stone," I told Harry. "It was inserted into a part of the Stone which was off-limits to the Stone itself. I have destroyed the phony memories fed in through this diamond and led the Stone consciousness into the heart of the off-limits zone. The Stone will finish healing on its own. It is once again safe and my old friend."

Hermione reported that she had spent the last half hour of her stay in another off-limits zone. She had found no diamond, although she couldn't ensure one wasn't present. She had wanted to explore further, but honored our agreed two hour limit. She had destroyed an assemblage of wires, crystallites, and what seemed like a thick seal made up of some sort of tree resin. She felt that the Stone could now enter this part of itself.

Dad and Tony seemed very pleased with what we had accomplished. Harry and Ron seemed relieved that we had survived with our minds intact. We were within an hour of our entry into Black-Stone mini-world.

Action really can determine our mood. When Brighid, Aagog and I had slunk into the mini-world, hidden beneath our invisibility cloaks, I had been fearful. I had cowered from an empty control landing, frightened under the glare of the cavern lights brightening to herald our presence. My fear and excess of caution, perhaps simply acceding to the fears of those back on the floor of our own pyramid, had sharply curtailed my explorations. There was much I wanted to see, but I saw none of it. I felt good when I slunk back to my own world, having learned far less of the new world than I should have. Of course, I did have the diamond. That should be enough to count as a great victory, even if I hid as I stole it.

Now, as I led my little army into the mini-world, I felt fearless. There would be no invisibility cloaks today. Not having to skulk into the new world helped. Being able to fully trust my Black Stone helped more. As I enhanced all of my protective charms and reached for Stone power, I felt my protector-friend was back at my side. Barb and I entered first, carrying Tendra and Aagog on our shoulders. Aagog was assigned to ascend to the ceiling of the cavern, as soon as we entered. She would make her way quickly to the control landing slits and take a good sniff. If the landing was still vacant, she would drop a Weasley Whizbang.

Barb and I had wands drawn as we world-walked into the mini-world. The lights came on immediately, just as I felt Aagog leaving my shoulders. I saw nobody and we were not challenged. Tendra, Barb, and I quickly took up positions at three corners of the black stone. I scanned as much of the cavern as I could see from my position. The little circle was in full view and it was unchanged from how we had left it. I saw the flash from the Whizbang and heard the report and reached for Harry.

As soon as I whispered back to Harry that the pyramid still appeared to be empty, the others followed us. First came Tony's soldiers, riding upon six Unicorns, then Cho and Hermione side-walked Tony and Dad, then came most of the rest of my team, followed by Mafalda and Ellen on the final two Unicorns. Pegasus had world-walked unencumbered and was my only spare Unicorn, should things take a turn toward the nasty.

The soldiers, Ellen, and Barb took up defensive positions along each face of the black stone. The rest of us divided into small groups to explore the pyramid. Brighid and I took Hermione, Dad, and Tony on a tour of the tiny circle. Commander Wainwright and Barb left their positions to protect us.

Brighid pointed to a section of silver lace, explaining why it had to be very new. I remarked on the similarity of the silicons in this circle to those in Odin's foundry. We were providing such a detailed explanation of the circle, that Dad interrupted telling us "I want to see exactly where you found the purple diamond."

Fair enough and an interest apparently shared with Tony. With warnings about the circle of crystals atop the lodestone and the earlier misadventures of Baal, I apparated Dad to the top of the lodestone, pointing to the silver nest, which had previously cradled the diamond. Dad was heeding my warning of the little crystals and didn't try to approach the silver nest. He remarked "alright, you've satisfied my curiosity on this matter. The circle is very different from any other I've seen. Let's not keep Tony waiting."

I apparated back to the floor of the pyramid. By the time I looked up, Brighid, Tony and Commander Wainwright were atop the lodestone. I joined Hermione telling her "now I really want to explore the control landing and those doors on the ledge near it. I want to know if our rings will work here. I want to know if the presence of a control landing means that this black stone can function as a transporter."

Dad had stuck with me and Harry had joined us. Dad was concerned, demanding to know "is that really safe? We have soldiers and aurors to do that sort of initial exploration. I well remember how difficult it was to get out of the passage to the control landing in our own world."

"I'll go with them," Harry answered with an air of assurance that I suppose was meant to convince Dad that there was something Harry could actually do to keep us safe. I doubted he even had a ring that would work. I invited both Harry and Brighid to join us. Strangely, Harry's presence seemed to satisfy Dad.

I apparated us onto the ledge farthest from the control landing, aiming high because I couldn't actually see the floor of the balcony. We arrived in a straight line, hands joined, and I used a 'corpus leviosum' to slow the descent of my companions. Suddenly, my left heal struck a hard obstacle and I was pitched forward. The others, who hadn't quite touched down yet, were able to steady me. Harry then struck the same obstacle and we all tumbled forward onto the stone floor and up against the wall of the pyramid. It all happened so fast, but my many past head injuries caused me to quickly drop my companions hands and to quickly raise my arms in a protective cocoon for my head. I scraped an elbow against the wall and somebody plowed into my thighs. It was not a glorious landing – we had almost killed ourselves.

I turned to find out what obstruction had caused this near disaster. Fortunately, I had aimed high and we just cleared a short stone bench running the length of the balcony at a height of about six inches off the ground. I realized that I had sensed a little interference as I began to disapparate and had wisely raised my target point, otherwise there would have been massive splinching.

The bench clearly wasn't for Witches and Wizards. Probably a little low, even for a Goblin. I thought the balcony had been built for Elves, possibly even for Leprechauns.

"That was way too close," my husband admonished me. "I really twisted my ankle."

Shame washed over me as I saw my husband struggling to pull himself to an upright position. I told him to stop, until I could examine his ankle. I didn't detect a break. Some healing spells got Harry vertical, although they didn't remove the limp or winces of pain, when he walked. Hermione took her turn working on Harry's ankle. The ancient priestess healing skills really are quite formidable. Harry seemed a little better, but I tore off the hem of my robe to wrap the angle, so that it had some sideways support.

I tried to persuade Harry to apparate back to the pyramid floor, but he insisted that he would be fine and that he had promised Dad that he would keep me safe. This answer annoyed me, but I decided against arguing with him. I was too eager to test my ring on this door to argue with anyone who wasn't intent upon stopping me from going forward.

I was wearing the ring which I had made myself, based upon my Light Guardian knowledge. I examined the little marble panel next to the doorway. The panel was at the level of my knees. Humans were not a consideration to the builders of this balcony. Neither were Unicorns or Centaurs, who would find that bench to be a death trap. There were three indentations for rings. They were unmarked. I touched the top indentation with my ring. The cavern lights faded to black and the indentations began to glow. I touched the top indentation a second time and the cavern lighting sprung back to life.

I touched the middle indentation. Nothing happened at first, but then the Odin's silver door dropped into the floor, moving very swiftly and silently, compared to the behavior of the portals in our pyramid. I saw darkness beyond, but Hermione was at the ready with both a 'lumos' and a match to test the air. The air was fine and I could see that the door led to a short landing, with stone steps going up as well as down from it. I touched the bottom indentation. The stairs were brightly lit. I touched the middle indentation again and the door whisked shut. One would not want to have a body part in its path when it closed. I didn't have a limb within a foot of the door, but the speed of its ascent still caused me to jump back and almost trip over the bench. I was forced to sit upon that little bench, suffering a very great jolt to by tail bone.

"I want the two of you to test your rings, before we enter. Harry first."

I was less sure of Harry's ring than I was of Hermione's Muse ring. We had created her ring jointly and I trusted in Hermione's care and attention to detail as well as to her status as Muse. I didn't know if a consort-to-the-Mother ring of my sole creation, really just an adjustment of Harry's Keeper ring, would work. It did. I viewed the testing of Hermione's ring as a mere formality, undertaken in an over-abundance of caution. Of course it worked.

Hermione led us up the stairs, as I assisted Harry to make certain that the bad ankle didn't lead to a nasty fall. Before we reached the end of the stairs, we arrived at a very short stone landing, with an arch on the left-hand wall. Hermione applied her wand. Looking out we were confronted by another balcony, with stone bench. That's all there was, so we closed the portal and continued climbing.

"At some later time, we should examine those benches closely, to see if there is a place to place a ring. At least nothing bad happened when Ginny accidentally sat on the first bench."

"That's if you don't count bruising my bottom as a bad thing," I objected. "And I fell, I didn't sit."

We didn't have to climb much farther. Another twenty steps and the stairs ended at another landing, with an Odin's silver portal directly in the path of the stairs. Hermione's ring also caused this door to slide smoothly into the floor.

There was a small room behind the portal, and it was illuminated as soon as the silver door had fully descended into the floor. We entered the room, which was a little deeper and wider than our control landing, but the same height. The stone bench was a little shorter than ours. It would hold one fat human or two very much in-shape humans. We all knew better than to try to sit upon this bench.

I walked to the slits in the wall of the room facing the interior of the pyramid. There were two rows of slits, one a little high for me and the other a little low. Neither was sized for an Elf, or even a Goblin. I stooped a little to stare through the slits at my team, as they explored the floor of the pyramid. I stored a mental map of the areas which were not visible from this room: the back side of the black stone and everything from this wall of the pyramid out to about an eighth of the way across the pyramid floor. That might be important information to know at some future time.

As I explained the significance of this observation, Hermione told us "There is a little layer of dust over everything. Probably about a year, since anyone has been in here."

"There is a place for a ring in the middle of the bench," Harry told us. "I don't think I should be first to try my ring. I'm probably a nobody to this particular black stone."

"We may all be nobodies to it," I commented.

"Or it could be our Black Stone superimposed onto another world, or even another Black Stone permanently linked to our own," Hermione suggested.

I didn't see any added safety in delay, so I walked up to the bench, bent over, and touched my ring against the spot indicated by Harry.

**Welcome Mother of the Future. There is no transporter to command, but you may address the Stone, **

That was a strangely stilted phraseology, since I was quite sure it must be the Stone talking to me. It confirmed as much, telling me that it was the other-worldly incarnation of my familiar Black Stone. Same Stone, two worlds. It was not trying to be overly formal or stand-offish. This was yet another dead spot in its own person that had opened up my Black Stone.

How could it be bigger in this world? Was it now different parts of itself talking to each other? Was the little circle on this mini-world the thing which had seized control of it?

Unfortunately, my Stone couldn't tell me that much. It didn't understand one Stone in two worlds any more than I did. Yes, when I first touched my ring to the bench, the voice that appeared in my head was not consciously the voice of my familiar Black Stone, but it had soon realized that part of itself was speaking to me. Yes, it was very logical that its thoughts had been disrupted from this very cavern, although it had no proof of that.

It did equally badly on simpler factual questions. It couldn't tell me who had been in this cavern and kept the floor clean. It didn't know what lay outside of this pyramid. After a pause, it answered in its slightly different 'other-Stone' voice **There is a spot beneath the bench, where you can press your ring and be transported to a bench outside this pyramid. I know nothing more than that. It may be a safe thing to do, or it may lead you to an ambush or to nothingness. I have no way to see outside my pyramid.**

In retrospect, it was an obvious and easy decision to make, but I felt a little proud and increasingly adult, because I did not tell Hermione and Harry to squeeze onto the bench, so that we could all travel outside the pyramid. I wisely chose to apparate back to the floor of the pyramid. We had learned a lot and it was time to discuss.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter Forty-Two – What's Outside This Pyramid?**

With Viktor's support, Cho had taken charge of the team in our absence. She had Cissy and Jaden photographing every part of the pyramid, black stone and circles, others scouring the floors for writing, and still others in fixed defensive positions. She and Adrienne were sketching the locations of balconies, portals, and each stone. Seeing Adrienne reminded me that I had missed an opportunity with the purple diamond.

"I'm foolish," I confessed to Adrienne, "I could have used Witch Sculpture to duplicate the purple diamond, before I surrendered it to Odin."

"You can't just look at the outside of a three-dimensional object and whammo! For Witch sculpture to work, you need to understand what the thing is made of and how it looks inside," Hermione corrected me. "We know how a broom and a straw hat are made, so we can transfigure the one into the other. A person who doesn't understand how your new wand is made and what makes it special, couldn't simply Witch sculpt a duplicate. They could make a stick of wood that looked exactly like your wand, but it wouldn't perform like your wand.

"I, on the other hand, had Uncle Reg to tell me exactly what the crystal lattice of the purple diamond looked like and how the potassium and rubidium atoms are spread throughout the lattice. So…"

She pulled a replica of the purple diamond from her robes. "I think this should work like the original. Uncle Reg has no way of knowing what spells may have been applied to the diamond and I couldn't detect any, but if part of the magic of its function is an obscure spell, well then this copy won't work like the original. But … I'm very sure that it will. I don't think we should test that yet - it may allow the baddie who created the little circle to re-establish control."

The diamond was quickly returned to her robes. Only Adrienne, Cho, and I knew that Hermione had the duplicate diamond.

"I really stopped by to tell you that Tendra wanted to take a look at the stone stairs and control landing to determine if they were created by Goblins. I wanted to show Ron the landing, so I agreed to apparate Tendra. I assume you are going to want to explore the down stairs and see if they lead to the outside. Harry is too hobbled to join you and Cho is otherwise occupied. Why don't you take Barb and Catta with you?"

I told Harry and Dad what I planned to do. They agreed, but made me promise that if there was a path to the outside that I would look, but not actually go through the external portal. Tony, who was standing next to Dad, suggested "you might want to take your talking spider with you. She is very good at exploring. You might also take your raven. Either of them could have scouted the landing for you, before you all but broke Harry's ankle."

It's not every Witch who is accused of husband abuse by the Muggle Prime Minister. I felt he was being a bit free and loose with his criticism, but I agreed to take Aagog and Blacky with me. Blacky was way up the pyramid, perched upon the upper row of slits, but immediately flew down to me, when I summoned her. It was hard to know how much Blacky saw and reported back to Odin. I hoped she hadn't seen the purple diamond in Hermione's hand. I thought, perhaps I merely hoped, that my body had blocked Blacky's view.

The short stairs made the walk down the stairs from the balcony awkward. I felt as though I always needed to actively brake my descent, less I overstep the edge of a stair. A fall would be a nasty affair, as this stairway was even steeper than the one inside our own pyramid. It was straight down, without the turns which allowed a less steep course in our pyramid. Catta was having no difficulty, suggesting that these might very well be Elf stairs.

We walked all the way to the bottom, before encountering a portal. The bottom of the stairs provided a nice, wide landing of finished stones, with portals on both sides and a larger portal directly in front of us. I just stood and stretched for several minutes. My calves and thighs were sore from the constant need to brake my almost fall down the stairs.

Logic said that if a path to the outside existed, it was through either the portal to my left or the one straight in front of me. The third portal likely led back to the floor of the pyramid, although I didn't recall seeing a corresponding portal on the pyramid side. After fighting the little stone steps, my mind latched onto the big portal straight ahead of us. This was the only portal that had a place to put my ring, which was conveniently placed for a Witch. I touched my ring to the unlabeled spot. The Odin Silver door immediately slid up into the ceiling.

A slight breeze wafted fresh air across my face, but I was staring out into the darkness of a night with no moon or stars. Since I had promised Harry that I wouldn't leave the pyramid, I merely stood in back of the portal and lobbed balls of light as far into the night as I could. With my new and improved wand and a big assist from Black Stone-power, I was able to chuck a very bright ball of light close to a hundred feet beyond the pyramid. There was nothing taller than six-inch high grass between me and the light. It took half a minute for the light to fade. Nothing wandered into sight during that time.

I stood staring into the blackness for several minutes, before it dawned on me that none of the doors in this pyramid had slid shut automatically. I touched my ring once more to the indentation in the marble panel and the door whisked down, striking the floor with a loud thud. I took a moment to whisper a report to Harry. I amended my report, when Aagog clambered up my body and onto my shoulder to whisper that she could detect no animal smells on the incoming breeze. At least I knew that there was air out there, that it was breathable, that no corporeal beings were waiting at the entrance to devour anything foolish enough to leave the safety of the pyramid. Oh yes, since there was grass, it must get bright out there at some time. I would have to check back later.

I turned my attention to the other portal, which might lead to the outside, although I was more than a little surprised that it was located only ten feet from the portal I had already explored. What sort of dispute would lead to a human-sized door right next to an Elf-sized door? I leaned down and touched my ring to the depression next to the second door. A second later the door rushed upward and… light flooded in? How was that even possible?

On second look, I saw the light had a reddish tinge to it. Could sunrise come so suddenly? This world must be totally flat. I again felt a breeze, although this time against my legs. Once again, Aagog climbed up me to whisper into my ear, "animals are outside. I investigate."

Aagog's spot by my ear was taken by Blacky, who also told me that she was going to explore this new world. I didn't want to leave my companions stranded outside the pyramid, so I drew my wand and guarded the portal. Barb also had her wand pointed at the world beyond. I whispered to Harry, telling him that sunrise had arrived in the space of a couple of minutes. Catta wanted to take "just a very quick look outside."

I granted permission, telling her that I wanted her back and reporting to me within five minutes. She was back in three.

"There is a building, very close on the left. A growling animal is chained next to the house. There are very strange trees and a mountain behind the building. I saw nothing else close to us, but I smelled a different animal than the one that growls."

I also relayed this news to Harry. He said he wanted the portal closed. I told him that I couldn't do that, until Blacky and Aagog returned. Harry told me to summon them. I tried. Blacky returned, Aagog did not. Blacky had a most surprising message.

"This is Asgard, he told me. Not Odin's lands, but Asgard. It is red grass part of Asgard."

I thought the 'red grass' was just an illusion caused by the rising sun, but Blacky opened her beak and dropped several leaves of the red grass into my palm. Alright, it did look just like what we had seen on one side of Odin's palace. If this was Asgard, then Odin should know that he had easy access to my world. Why had he not mentioned this?

As I was trying to figure out whether or not Blacky had just disqualified Odin as someone I could trust, Aagog returned and climbed up my body.

"I climb up pyramid. Black Stone stops at the top of pyramid. There is small building attached to other side of pyramid. All around is plain of red grass. Just two buildings and growling wolf-thing in sight."

I closed the portal and whispered my update to Harry. Harry said to come back to the floor of the pyramid. I told him that's likely exactly where door number three would lead me, but that the next thing I intended to do was to explore where that portal would take me.

As I approached the third portal, Barb expressed her concerns to me. "Why didn't Odin retrieve the purple diamond himself? If that really was Asgard, he could have come here as easily as we did. We've thought he wanted us to do his dangerous dirty work, but getting the diamond wasn't at all dangerous. You should be very careful. There is a hidden danger here that we have missed and Odin must know about. Perhaps it's a trap that only Odin can trip, but if the goal is to protect the diamond, then it makes no sense to allow you to just walk in and out as Odin's agent."

"It makes no sense to me either," I admitted, taking a moment to warn Harry to be on maximum alert, with wands ready, while I explored door number three. "Remember the speculation that the green diamond would bind those who touched it to BeyondWorld? Perhaps Odin thought it impossible to carry the diamond away from this pyramid. He seems bold enough to at least try. I guess we are his attempt. Okay I'm ready to defend you. Open the portal."

I opened the portal. The portal did not lead back to the floor of the pyramid. It opened into a twilight world. There was enough light to see, but everything was dark grey. The ground looked like a mirror surface of light grey. Large sheets of different colored glass floated off in two directions in front of me. One was light grey. The second was a very dark red, like the darkest garnet or rose I had ever seen. I felt no breeze, but got a sense of cold in front of me. I knew what I must do. I closed the door and apparated us back to the floor of the pyramid.

The whole team huddled together on the pyramid floor to debate the significance of what I had seen.

"We are in the ultimate world-between-worlds," Hermione told us. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if door number three leads to an airless world. Likely the same sort of magical barrier that Odin uses as windows, protects the third portal from the cold airlessness of the space between worlds. You could force your way through the barrier, but that would court death. We'd need special equipment to do that. The two other worlds you saw also looked like dead worlds, but they might lead to useful places."

"I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't other worlds floating outside that door, which I would have seen if I could walk outside and look around."

"And it's a very good thing you were smart enough not to do that," Dad told me.

We were seated on the floor near the small circle. As I turned my attention in that direction, I saw that Cho had done some dismantling in my absence. One of the silicon crystals and two of the clear crystals were missing. Looking around, I saw them stacked on the floor, behind Hermione.

"We can put them back if you want," Hermione told me. "I thought it would be all too easy to quickly re-energize this circle, if someone came here with a purple diamond. I also wanted to inspect the bases of the crystals."

I got her message, telling her, "yes I think you should put them back. You might be the one who wants to re-activate the circle."

I suggested that we wait a few hours to see if daylight arrived outside portal number one, and then return to Hogwarts to plan what we should do next. There was grumbling, but after I received support from Hermione, Cho, and Tony, the rest of the group agreed.

While we waited, Tendra told me about her explanation of the balconies and control landing, ending with the very definite conclusion, "these things were not built by Goblins. It is not our style, even if we do the work for others."


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter Forty-Three – What Should We Do Now?**

We waited another two hours before re-checking the world outside door number one. It was dawn. There was a large plain of green grass, almost as far as the eye could see. The plain terminated in a long mountain range, which covered the entirety of the far horizon. There were dots of something, far in the distance. Not having anything to judge the distance against, I couldn't tell if the dots were buildings, people, or grazing animals. I was seized by a desire to step out and explore. My self-control won out over impulse and I returned to the floor of the pyramid to report what I had seen and to make plans to explore this inviting world.

We decided that the others would guard the pyramid and Hermione, as she communed with this alien black stone, while I led a scouting party outside the pyramid. I planned to take Barb, Cho, Adrienne, Mafalda, Catta, Aagog, and Blacky with me, but Tony wanted to send Steward and Captain Davies with us, as his personal representatives. Dad agreed to this addition to the scouting party before I had a chance to respond. We were well armed. Cho had the Gryffindor sword and Barb the Joan d'Arc sword, ring, and shield. Captain Davies carried the grenade launcher.

As soon as we were all outside the pyramid, I closed the door behind us. I told Captain Davies that I wanted to set up a defensive position, with our backs against the pyramid, while Aagog climbed the pyramid and Blacky scouted from the sky. She willingly accepted my order. I had my astronomy telescope with me, so I scanned the horizon. The black dots were buildings. They were far closer to the mountains than they were to us. There were several dozen of them, arrayed in an arc from almost as far as I could see to my right to almost straight ahead of us. I saw the smaller dots of grazing animals, which had been too distant to see with my bare eyes.

"Do you think we dare to visit those buildings?" I asked Cho.

"I think we must, but not until we know more. We need a safe way of finding out who runs this place and whether that being is friend, foe, or neutral. We don't want to blunder up against a stronger, hostile force. This may just be a world we must avoid."

An excited Aagog scurried right from the side of the pyramid onto my shoulder. "There is big city on other side of pyramid. You must come see!"

I asked my companions to crouch around me in a circle, so that I could apparate us atop the pyramid. I didn't want to announce our presence by arriving standing. I could see where the top of the pyramid must be, but couldn't actually see it.

I asked Aagog if the top was perfectly flat, going back from the edge.

"Yes, it is flat. It is many times as wide as you are tall."

Okay, I could safely do this if I just aimed a little high. Arriving just inside the near edge of the top of the pyramid would make us less visible from the ground. I gritted my teeth and apparated us a little over a foot above where I was sure the top of the pyramid must be.

I found myself falling a lot farther than I had expected. I must have brought us in with my side a foot higher than those on the far side of our circle. I fell three feet to the ground, first jarring my ankles and then banging my knees upon the hard stone. Fortunately, Mafalda's old knees were at the lower end of the circle and she fell only about a foot and a half. Since we clung to each other's hands, our circle just fell in upon itself and we at least shielded each other's heads from banging against the stone.

Stewart had the most presence of mind, instructing us "lie on your stomachs and crawl toward the far edge, so we can't be seen from the ground."

A good tactic, but very painful to execute on damaged knees. It was only fair that, as the person responsible for a bad apparate, I got the worst of the landing, but it was torture to crawl across the almost-smooth stone. I cheated and decided that we would levitate each other to the far edge. That put our bottoms about six inches higher, but spared further injury.

I didn't know what to expect as I peered across the far edge of the pyramid. What was a large city to a spider, who lived with several dozen kin in a medium-sized cave? It wasn't London, but it was big. There were thousands of buildings, some quite large, grouped along both sides of a river. I thought the tallest buildings must be eight to ten floors high.

I pulled out my astronomy telescope and studied the buildings. They were stone, with windows and doors and gardens on the roofs. I saw a few beings on the street. They looked basically human. This certainly wasn't a world of Leprechauns, Elves, Goblins, Centaurs, Unicorns, or spiders. I was studying the beings so intently that I shouted out, when Blacky surprised me by landing on my back. I also suffered some claw scratches, which certainly justified my outcry.

"This world be Vanaheim," Blacky told me. "It is the home of the Vanir. They be the lesser Gods. Frijjo is Vanir."

"Does that mean they are friends of Odin? Does that mean that they will treat us well?" I pumped the raven for more information. It felt strange thinking a bird could answer such questions, but then a talking bird IS strange, and I was used to Fawkes doing incredible things, so why not my Blacky?

"Vanir sort of friends. They be jealous of major Gods. Frijjo brother very dangerous, not like Odin."

I relayed all of this to the group, telling them that perhaps a visit to the city should wait until we had Frijjo with us, or at least until after we spoke to her about her brother.

"Is there any more exploring that we should do right now?" Barb asked in a way that suggested I would be a fool to answer 'yes'.

I had just declined further exploring when I received and urgent message from Harry.

{[Frightened] We're under attack. Help! One of the guys looks a lot like Odin. Some of the creatures with him look truly nasty.}

"Attack inside the pyramid!" I shouted to my companions. We have to join the fight. I'll apparate us to the rear of the pyramid."

We joined hands and I apparated us… right into a big battle. Well, twenty feet to the side of where the attackers were pressing our guys back up against the black stone.

"They be demons!" Stewart declared, pointing at the attackers. They were naked, red-skinned, sort-of-men with horns sprouting from their heads, brilliant red eyes, and a flickering ethereal flame surrounding their bodies. There were half a dozen of them on the attack and two more appeared to be emerging from the small circle.

The closest attacker had Cissy backed up against the black stone and were stabbing at her with its trident. Cissy looked terrified, but was firing curses at the thing, while a soldier beside her stepped forward to fire her assault rifle right into the attacker's chest. This didn't faze the attacker, but it turned and stabbed the soldier, who collapsed towards it, impaled upon the trident. I pointed my wand at this attacker, shouting "kill!" It didn't fall, but it stopped advancing upon Cissy and tried to turn to confront me. The weight of the dead soldier impeded it. It was trying to shake its trident free of her. I was ten feet from the thing as it shed the dead soldier and turned to face me. It raised the trident to shoulder height, looking like it intended to hurl its trident at me.

I was reaching for more and more Stone-power. A second "Kill!" rocked it back on its heels. As I fired a third "kill!" at the thing, Barb appeared at my side and slashed the thing with the Joan sword. Its head was lopped off and fire spurted from the neck as the body shriveled in upon itself, becoming nothing but glowing embers.

"The swords work," I shouted. "Cho must use Gryffindor."

My eyes searched for Harry. I found him trying to fend off another demon, who was trying to attack Hermione, while she sat upon the stone floor, trying to pull something out of her magical bag.

I fired repeated "kill!" curses at Harry's attacker, while Mafalda gave it the 'Avada Kedavra!' As it turned to assess it, I saw that Hermione had succeeded in removing the monolith from her bag.

"The demons are coming from the circle. Odin is summoning them. You must attack him," Hermione pointed.

Barb slew the demon, I was cursing, allowing me to focus upon the little circle. There was a bright glow surrounding the lodestone. Odin was standing in front of the glow, staring right at me. He had only one eye! It was an overly big, malevolent eye, as if it had enlarged to make up for the loss of its companion. It was staring right at me, as if it could propel a killing curse my way.

"Mafalda, Cho! We need to do a triple curse," I commanded. Barb guarded us with her sword, while the three of us quickly knelt side-by-side, touched the tips of our wands and shouted "off!" in unison.

I saw Odin take the green lightning bolt square in the chest. I saw him stumble a half-step backwards, as another two demons emerged from the fiery glow and floated past him. I thought Odin would fall, but he steadied himself. He looked ready to attack us, as he managed to stumble a full step towards us. Suddenly, the nearest two silicon crystals of the circle exploded.

The fiery glow above the lodestone exploded outward, consuming the outer silicon ring of the circle. I felt a wave of heat and then a huge blast of air, which threw me back against Harry and Hermione.

I scrambled back to my feet. Barb was lying on the floor beside me, looking totally dazed. I picked up the Joan sword and searched for demons to slay. Most of them looked stunned. A couple were lying motionless on the stone floor, but I saw one on its feet and advancing upon Dad and Tony. It had lost its trident. I apparated as I swung Joan's sword, putting myself in the perfect position to lop off the demon's head.

I saw another demon ten feet away. It was vertical, but supporting itself with its trident, as it staggered toward Pegasus and Cantring. I raised my sword to attack it, but Pegasus charged the thing. Just as she impaled it with her horn, it shattered in a burst of flaming sparks.

One of the fallen demons farther along the side of the black stone was pulling itself to a sitting position. I swung the Joan sword, and it was dead. There were no more demons in front of me. I turned toward the inner circle. I saw Cho dispatching fallen demons. Farther ahead, inside the remains of the little circle, Odin was using the lodestone to pull himself into a standing position.

I turned back to Harry, telling him we needed another triple curse. Harry grabbed Cissy and I asked Adrienne to join them. Cho and I guarded the trio as they advanced upon the still dazed Odin. "Use the 'off' curse," I told them. "Aim for the eye!" We got to within ten feet of Odin, before he was fully upright and was turning to face us. Seeing Odin's motion, Harry and the others quickly knelt in firing position. Odin's eye was staring right at me and I was ramping my defensive charms to a level I wouldn't have thought possible, when the green lightning bolt struck that eye and Odin fell forward, banging his head upon the stone.

"Lots of goop," Cissy suggested.

We left Odin's body in a white, goop-cocoon, right up to just below his nostrils. I was admiring our handiwork, when I saw Aagog crawl up his head and bite the tip of his nose.

I don't know if Odin is even killable, but it certainly seemed like we had him neutralized, at least for the next twenty-four hours, until the 'super-off!' wore off. What happened at that time might be truly unpleasant. I didn't know what to do with Odin. I needed answers. I needed to talk to Frijjo, as dangerous as that might be.

The thought 'dead comrades!' flashed across my bedazzled mind. I say 'bedazzled', because I don't know what else to call my dazed, super-adrenalized combat-ready, fully Stone-charged, seen-way-too-much-carnage mind. I hastened back to the black stone to help the wounded.

Hermione was tending to Tony, who had a nasty burn on his right shoulder. Three of his dead soldiers lay beside him. Commander Harkwright was seated behind him. She was bleeding from her scalp and looked dazed. I sat beside her and put my ancient priestess healer skills to use. At my present stone-revved level of power and focus, I quickly discovered a small crack in the skull beneath her forehead. I repaired this, as well as two small broken blood vessels inside her head. I vanished accumulated blood from within her head, so I could get a better look. I didn't see any other serious damage, although her brain seemed bruised. The damage was to such tiny blood vessels, that it took an hour to clean up this damage. I knew the proper potion to use. I knew Hermione would have the potion. Hermione had everything.

Hermione left Tony just long enough to find the potion in her bag and to help me get it inside Commander Harkwright's head. Then she was back to helping Tony.

I checked out the rest of my team. The British soldiers had taken the worst of the attack. Only the unscathed Captain Davies and Commander Harkwright had survived. One auror was dead and a second had his wand arm destroyed. It was still there, but so badly burned that I had no hope of repairing it. I had to remove it, to save his life. For some reason, he thanked me for this.

I went back to check on Tony. I had to ask Stewart and Dad to step aside. I could tell that Hermione had done excellent work and that Tony would keep the arm.

I moved along to check on Pegasus. She had a singed face. Fortunately, she had closed her eyes as she impaled the demon. Her sight was undamaged and it was a simple matter to erase the damage of the singed hair and slightly burned skin. I was glad to be able to restore her to pristine condition. Pegasus thanked me, but pointed to a second Unicorn in need of the same remedy. I quickly performed the same fix for this Unicorn, whom I learned was N'Atron. N'Atron had also killed a demon, by impaling it.

"We need to talk about what just happened," I told the group. "Where did the attackers come from?"

Cissy filled in the details. Odin had apparated into the pyramid moments after the repairs to the circle had been finished. This was about four hours after my party had departed. This was surprise number one - by my reckoning, I had been away for less than an hour.

Cissy said that she had remarked to Odin that he was missing an eye. He had responded that he would ignore the rudeness of her remark and she should know that he had appeared to us previously with two eyes only as a courtesy to spare our delicate sensibilities.

Odin had brought with him the purple diamond I had returned to him. He had told the group that he realized that the circle needed to stay energized. Problems had been encountered elsewhere in his realm and he must now fix them. He installed the diamond in its little silver nest, rebuking my team for damaging the delicate silver lattice of the nest.

As soon as Odin stepped away from the diamond, the diamond had begun to glow. The glow spread until it covered the entirety of the lodestone. The glow intensified into a shimmering flame, which grew brighter. As the light grew so bright that Cissy had squinted her eyes, the first pair of demons had emerged.

Cissy shivered as she finished her tale. "Odin looked right at me as he said, 'Now I think you all must prepare to die. Die well and a place awaits you in Valhalla. Die poorly and I shall never see you again – the mists of Beyond will swallow you up.' And then the demons attacked us. If you hadn't come back when you did, I fear we would all be dead. Our curses were almost useless. Our defensive charms delayed them little. They feared the Unicorns. That and your return are all that saved us. I won't say that this was a great adventure. Really, it was awful."

I realized that Hermione and I needed to find a spell which could slay a demon. Beyond that, we needed more highly magical swords.

I expected a lot of disagreement as I told the group, "I think at least some of us need to return to Asgard to learn what we can from Frijjo. The Odin inside this pyramid was not the Odin we met in Asgard. We need to learn why he changed."

Dad was too stunned by the battle to object strongly. "Give it more serious thought. It won't benefit you to rush back to Asgard unprepared."

I promised to delay. I did want to take the time to see if Hermione or I could mine an anti-demon spell from within our unsorted Light Guardian knowledge. Perhaps my Black Stone knew the answer. It made sense to stop back at Hogwarts. The danger was that we couldn't just leave Odin to recover in another twenty-two hours. We certainly couldn't bring him back to our own world and possibly watch him demolish Hogwarts and my Black Stone.

As I was considering what to do, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Adrienne presented me with the remains of the purple diamond. There were two very nice, intact but quite small purple diamonds and two larger pieces, which were cracked and scorched.

"The little circle is destroyed," Adrienne told me. "The crystals are mainly dust and the central lodestone has split into three pieces. It will not be repaired quickly. I would hate to see it repaired."

So would I. Hermione suggested that we could leave Odin where he was for a few hours. She could weave a web of spells, which would prohibit apparition, if he somehow regained alertness and would prevent anyone else from helping him. That's what we did. As a final touch, we covered him with the two Peverell invisibility cloaks, hoping that would prevent an ally from finding his inert body.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 44 – Hogwarts and McGonagall**

It was a somber trip back to Hogwarts. We had five bodies and almost as many injured. We left most of our supplies on the floor of the pyramid. We could get them later. Most of the dead were Tony's – brave women who had come on my Quest. They had been sent on the mission by Tony, but it had been my responsibility to return them home safely. In that primary goal of a Quest leader, I had failed them. I hadn't wanted them, hadn't liked half of them. Had that dislike contributed to my neglect of their well-being? Would they still be alive, if I had left one of the swords with Cho, rather than hogging both to double the safety of my scouting party?

We arrived to a brightly lit pyramid interior, and to McGonagall. Narcissa was with her. They were not at all happy and picked a very bad time to verbally accost me.

"You rigged the Stone so that it won't talk to me," McGonagall accused me, by way of greeting.

"I did, except for extreme emergencies," I calmly agreed.

"That is most unfair. Yours is not the only Quest. We had our first meeting in the cave with Cotto and Firenze. That was three days ago. That means we must depart in a scant four days. I can't possibly prepare properly for my Quest, if I am not to be allowed to commune with the Stone. You are being most selfish!"

"Well, I never promised to encourage a competing Quest. I also must consider the view of the Committee in allowing access to the Black Stone. The Committee doesn't believe I should allow access to you. You have proven to be very unreliable."

"That should not be your decision. The Stone is not your property. It's under my school. I have the right to speak to it."

"But apparently not the ability. And I thought it was Narcissa's Quest and Neville's school."

"You are being most impertinent. I won't stand for that. I shall speak to Cotto and demand equal access for the members of my, err Narcissa's Quest."

"Have you no decency, Madam?" Tony asked her. "Is it too much to request that we be left in peace to deal with our dead? Can't you ever think of anything beyond your own wishes of the moment?"

McGonagall was taken aback, as she noticed our dead and wounded for the first time. "I'm sorry, I hadn't noticed. Yes, please tend to your casualties. We'll discuss this matter at another time."

I told Tony that I didn't know a lot of Muggle places to which I could transport his dead, telling him "I don't suppose you want me to take them back to your office, do you?"

"No. This will sound strange, but if you could transport all of us to that quarry where we blow up all of your explosives, Stewart will arrange for us to be picked up. I'll think of a suitable story. I don't want you to think we've been frightened away. Stewart, Captain Davies, and Commander Harkwright will rejoin your team before you set off on your next campaign."

Harry and Barb came with me, as we apparated the Muggles back to that remote corner of their own world.

"I'm sorry to have so totally underestimated your fighting skills," Captain Davies told me. "Our weapons were useless against those creatures, but you saved us from them. We have much to learn from you as well as some tricks I would be pleased to teach you, if you are willing."

I thanked her, telling her that I certainly was willing.

As we waited for Tony's reinforcements to arrive, I decided to give Commander Harkwright's head a final inspection. "You are going to be fine," I told her, "but you won't be ready for any rough action for several weeks. You shouldn't rejoin the Quest for our next stop. If we are still Questing a fortnight from now, I'd be honored to have you rejoin us."

Tony was just telling me, "I'll look for a couple of suitable…" when his helicopters drew near, their lights illuminating the ground just fifty feet from our position. I linked hands with Harry and we were gone, before the light shone where we had been standing. No point in creating even more difficult questions for Tony, beyond the obvious need to explain four dead soldiers and a wounded Commander Harkwright. I was quite certain that he hadn't told his staff that he and Stewart were off to do anything dangerous.

We returned to the pyramid floor to see Hermione and Cho intently observing a verbal battle between Dad and McGonagall. As I drew near, I heard Dad say in a very loud voice "Silence! I'll speak to you later. You know the Committee's opinion of your involvement in this sort of thing."

"You mean Tony's opinion…"

Dad's raised hand stifled her. She took Narcissa's hand and with a large pop, they were gone.

"I understand why she irritates you," Dad told me. "She really is a most infuriating Witch. I told her if she had a Quest complaint, she should take it up with Firenze. She said she'll speak to you later."

That was certainly something to look forward to. I told the others that there was a little cleanup activity remaining in the world we had just left. It was the sort of activity which could have the Gods chasing one through eternity and I didn't want to involve anyone else but Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Dad didn't like the sound of that.

I told Dad that if he wanted to keep his Deputy Minister safe, that Hermione and I would do the deed. Ron insisted upon coming with us. The three of us huddled in the far corner of the pyramid, before world-walking back to the inert Odin.

"What do you want to do?" Hermione asked me.

"I thought we might stash Odin outside the third portal, in that not-quite-a-world that connected to the other not-quite-worlds. I don't know if there is any air or heat there, but I doubt a major God will die in less than a day. He is far less likely to be rescued from there. If he is rescued, or when we let him out, he is likely to be far angrier, however."

"He tried to kill us. I think it's safe to say he already was very angry. I'm in. I think reducing the risk of escape trumps the risk of revenge. We're going to get the revenge, whatever we do. He's under the 'off!' curse. He won't even know that Ron helped us, which puts my mind at ease."

We did it. We reclaimed the good invisibility cloaks, wrapping Odin in a half dozen of the Weasley invisibility cloaks. We then levitated Odin to the third portal, opened it, and shoved him through the magical barrier. We gave him a double shot of 'off!' just before we shoved him through. I was confident that he wouldn't be bothering us for at least twelve hours. Depending upon what we learned in Asgard, I thought we might just choose to leave him there.

We were only gone for half an hour. Ron gave Harry the cryptic report "mischief managed, at least for the moment."

We all apparated to Hogwarts proper. I found Neville and asked if he could feed our party. He said he was happy to do so. He wanted to talk to us, anyway. He led us into the Great Hall and summoned the head kitchen Elf. A meal was agreed upon.

"How was your scouting expedition?" Neville asked us.

I told him exactly how bad it had been. I also mentioned running into McGonagall and Narcissa on the floor of the pyramid.

"Yes. I just learned how much their Quest plans have advanced, when she demanded that I lower the castle's apparation barriers for her. She returned about half an hour ago and wasn't at all happy. Narcissa has left for Malfoy Manor. Firenze is not at all pleased that they are actually starting the Quest. Most of her Quest team is sleeping in Ravenclaw. It seemed a pointless fight to deny them that measure of hospitality. Some of the students who are here for the summer, especially Alice, Margaret, and Henry, are quite upset to have so many Slytherin graduates sharing their school. There has been a little taunting, but it stopped when I threatened to evict the Slytherins. McGonagall has kept them in line since then, but mealtimes have been very uncomfortable. They spend most of their days training in the Room of Requirement or out in the grounds. It is what it is."

A profusion of great-smelling food suddenly appeared on the table. I found that I was very, very hungry. The excitement of exploration and battle, followed by the shock of death, had quieted my stomach. The smell of food now made me ravenous.

I had three different curries, with brown rice and pumpkin juice. I listened as Harry conversed with Neville. Neville was taking his own ration of abuse from McGonagall, including an abortive attempt to recruit Ostara to the Quest. Neville was still fuming about that, as he explained it to Harry, his voice rising.

I was surprised to hear, "Ostara is an adult Witch and perfectly capable of making her own decisions. I neither kidnapped her, Imperiused her, nor down-played the risks of the Quest. She was interested, but bowed out because she didn't want to upset you."

McGonagall made it very clear that she regarded the whole controversy as entirely Neville's fault. "If you truly love such a brilliant and talented Witch, you must learn to let her stretch her talents. You must trust her judgment."

"I do," Neville replied. "It's you I don't trust. It was my duty to warn Ostara about the level of bad conduct you have engaged in. She would be putting her life in your hands. That would be very risky."

"And yet, that should be wholly her decision. I fear that is one black mark against you in Ostara's mind. You are entirely too controlling. The Quest would have been a highly educational experience for her. I think you will find that, when my team returns in glory, Ostara's view of you will be severely diminished."

Neville did not reply. Since Dad was sitting far down the table next to Mom, who had somehow just materialized among us, McGonagall used her elbow to move Cho a little farther from me and plop down between us.

"I know that I seemed insensitive. I didn't see the bodies when I spoke. We both know how dangerous a Quest can be. Taking Muggles was foolish, but I won't belabor the point. Now that you have been reminded just how deadly a Quest can become, I would have hoped that you had some little desire to help avoid unnecessary deaths on Narcissa's Quest. Some of our Questers are very young. I know that you are not fond of the Slytherin Witches, but does your dislike of them really go so far that you would happily send them to their deaths?"

"I'm not sending them anywhere. I'd encourage them and you to stay home. Narcissa has already bugged out on two Quests. She'll likely do the same to you. I do think it a particularly nasty piece of work that you and Narcissa recruited Draco's new girlfriend. He's still very vulnerable and you have put him in an awful position. You even tried to recruit Ostara."

"I didn't do either of those things out of meanness. I didn't even know that the Greengrass girl was connected to Draco, when I spoke to her. So many of my initial choices have been denied to me, through the blatant interference of others. Catto and Firenze have also been very little help – did you and Harry put them up to that?"

"I think you'll find they've been more help to you than they were to me," I told her with total certainty. "I still think you are harming Draco – I thought you wanted to help Draco. I remember you asking us to risk our lives to protect Draco."

"Draco has not treated his mother at all well. He thinks only of himself. His mother doesn't think that girl is at all well-suited for Draco. I confess, I find my interest in protecting Draco to be very diminished by his bad conduct. He has chosen his allies. You and Luna can soothe his broken heart. I won't. He makes his own mother feel an unwelcome guest in her own house. I visited Narcissa there once. I felt most unwelcome. We had to spend the entire time in the garden. Draco didn't want me in HIS house. Well, it isn't HIS house."

"Actually, it is his house, he bought it," Harry told her. "If you are determined to be unpleasant, why don't you just leave and allow the rest of us to eat in peace."

"Because I am a professor at Hogwarts and entitled to eat at table, while you are merely semi-welcome guests."

"They are most welcome guests," Neville told her. "They are MY guests."

"I don't want to fight you on that. I'm here because I need Ginny to grant me permission to talk to and command the powers of the Black Stone. Lives depend upon my being able to freely access that Stone."

"No!" Harry and I spoke together.

"There has just been too much bad conduct by you and Narcissa," Harry explained in a calm voice. "Tony and the Minister made their decision for very good reasons. I agree with them."

"Of course you do. I was hoping that your wife wasn't quite as hard hearted as the three of you. Does she really want even more deaths of young women on her hands?"

"That's it!" Harry shouted, having quickly lost his calm. "We'll take our food elsewhere."

I led my team back to the floor of the pyramid, erecting our own anti-apparation barriers, which I was quite sure McGonagall could not breach. We ate the remainder of our dinners, squatting on the cold stone floor. My hand was shaking so much from anger that I spilled red curry on myself. I didn't even bother to clean the slop.

"It's not comfortable, but at least we can talk here without being spied upon," I told my team. "Some of us need to travel to Asgard and try to find out why Odin attacked us and where those demons came from. It's dangerous, but I think we must travel as soon as we finish our food. I don't want to risk taking the Muggle soldiers with us. That may anger Frijjo and the Aesir. They may already know what we did to Odin and be angry with us. It's clear that the Muggle soldiers can't fight them. We'd just be leading them to their deaths. I didn't want to argue with Dad about this. It must be done, and I plus a few of you must do it. Who is willing to come with me? I don't think more than a few of us should make the trip."

"Given my special relationship with Frijjo, I'm an obvious choice and of course I volunteer," Adrienne spoke up as soon as I stopped talking.

"The Muse must go," Hermione insisted.

"I've known Odin and Frijjo longer than any of you. I really must come with you," Mafalda insisted. "And if I may speak boldly, Minerva is frightened about her own Quest. You shouldn't take her sharp comments too seriously."

"I'm an excellent fighter, and I'm willing to come with you," Cho volunteered.

I told Cho that her fighting skills were needed to defend the pyramid floor in our absence. I would make the trip with Hermione, Adrienne, Mafalda, Blacky and Pegasus, if she was willing. Pegasus was willing. Aagog also wanted to come. I accepted her, as well.

I gave Harry a goodbye snog and then joined hands with my companions, so that I could try to apparate us back to Asgard. I couldn't. Hermione tried with Fawke's help and also failed. I decided that we should world-walk back to in-between-world and take the portal that led to the red-grass-region of Asgard. It wasn't my first choice, but if we apparated as soon as we left the portal, I didn't think this approach added too much additional danger. Hermione agreed with my assessment.

It turns out that world-walking is easier once you've made the first trip. We entered in-between-world very smoothly. As we stood in front of the portal, I decided that perhaps we should check on Odin one final time.

He was a tough old God. He seemed to be stirring. Hermione, Adrienne, and I gave him another dose of triple-'off!', firing through the magical barrier. His face was covered by the Weasley cloaks so he couldn't have seen us or known when we fired. He instantly became totally still. I was pleased. I hadn't known whether the curse would work through the magical barrier. In truth, we had been very foolhardy. We could have experienced a total rebound and have all been laid out for at least a day. Odin could have fully revived and dealt with our comatose bodies, in a most lethal way. Sometimes it's good to be lucky. Even someone as smart as Hermione needs a bit of luck as protection against unwise decisions.

Having dealt with Odin, I closed that portal. Hermione used her ring to open the other portal. As soon as we were all through the portal, I used my ring to close it. Within a minute of opening the portal, I had apparated us to the green-grass side of Odin's palace. I had landed us only twenty feet from the bridge to the entrance.

I didn't see a soul as we walked across the crystal and silver bridge. I rapped on the locked door, hoping for the best. If the inhabitants of the palace wanted us dead, we were in a very exposed position.

"If anything goes wrong, apparate back to the portal. I don't know what else to do." It felt lame, but what else could I say? We waited. I rapped again. We waited some more. Surely Odin had been missed. Likely, Frijjo knew that he had gone to attack us. What would she think, seeing us standing, totally exposed, at her side door?


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter Forty-Five – Return To the Silver Palace**

I was rehearsing in my mind exactly what I should say to Frijjo, if she ever actually arrived and opened the door. What if she was obviously surprised to see me alive? What if she knew everything that happened between Odin and me in in-between-world? What if her first words were an accusatory 'You killed my husband!'? More to the point, what if there was no greeting, apart from an instant lethal attack? I dialed my defensive charms up to full strength and started to seriously draw Stone-power, in case I needed to defend myself.

In the world of Hogwarts, Stone-power flowed into me like the water of a mighty river. I just needed to make a minimal effort to summon it, and then it coursed all through me. Here, Stone-power was a sluggish rivulet. Straining as hard as I could, I could barely tap into it. I was straining so hard to access Stone-power that I didn't actually see the door open. I just heard a familiar voice.

"I'm surprised to see you at my door. I thought you were on an important mission. You must be more capable than I imagined, to be finished so soon."

I was rendered dumb. I looked up to confirm what my ears had told me. Standing before me was Odin – and, he was smiling at me. How could either of those things possibly be true? I had left him unconscious, possibly even dead, on a cold, probably airless, almost-world. I decided to play along with whatever game he was playing. If nothing else, it delayed death. In the best case, Hermione or I might come up with a workable plan.

Odin invited us into his palace "to share a very fine mead, which Frijjo and I were indulging in, when she thought she heard something pounding on this door."

It was already decision time. Should I apparate back to the portal or enter the palace? If I apparated to 'safety', would my friends react quickly enough to escape? I decided that I must follow Odin. Perhaps Frijjo would protect us.

Odin walked us up to his sleeping chamber. Frijjo was seated in front of the window, glass of mead in hand. The bottle sat upon a slender silver shelf, which divided the window two feet above the floor. I was certain that the shelf hadn't been there during our last visit. Frijjo sat next to an empty, over-sized chair.

Odin snapped his fingers. A largish oval table, naturally silver, and more chairs materialized out of the air. Two more bottles of mead now stood upon the silver shelf. We were motioned to seats and handed glasses of mead. For some strange reason, Odin deemed it appropriate to direct Aagog to lie in the center of the table, like some strange Goth center-piece.

I willed Blacky to stay seated upon my shoulder. I definitely didn't want him to fly over to Odin and make a complete report of what had transpired in the other pyramid. Blacky was well behaved.

I suddenly realized that Hermione was speaking. "… eventful day?"

Odin heard what I had missed, responding "No. I'm afraid even major Gods can revert to homebody mode. Other than some very special time in our bed, Frijjo and I spent yesterday much as we're spending this morning. Even a God needs to relax and recharge."

My fear gave way to anger. How stupid did he think I was? I reached into the pocket of my jeans and extracted the plain white handkerchief, in which I had wrapped the pieces of what had been the purple diamond, which had opened the portal for the demons.

"I thought I had best return your diamond to you," I told Odin. "Unfortunately it was destroyed during the battle. You can at least make a nice pendant for Frijjo from its shards."

Odin looked truly puzzled as I dropped the pieces of diamond into his hand. He studied them closely.

"Yes, I can see that these pieces were once a large purple diamond. It must have been quite a battle to burn a diamond as pieces of this have been burnt. You must tell us your tale. But this is not my purple diamond. I have not finished building its circle, so I keep my diamond always very close to me.

Odin reached into his silk shirt and withdrew a pouch which had been suspended from his neck by a leather thong. He opened the pouch, pulled out a diamond, and placed it on the table in front of me. "As you can see, the diamond which you were so kind to deliver to me is undamaged. I take good care of something this valuable."

I examined the diamond very closely, passing it to Hermione for a second inspection. Hermione reached into her bag for a magnifying glass. She studied the diamond closely through her glass. Then she used the diamond to scour a big scratch across the glass. "It's genuine. This really is amazing. We have a great mystery on our hands."

"How so?" Frijjo asked Hermione.

It was Adrienne who answered the question. "My associates are trying to do the impossible – to come up with a polite, matter-of-fact way of saying that Odin attacked and tried to kill us. We are very lucky to be alive. Odin was difficult to stun and his demons were almost impervious to magic. We had to dispatch them with magical swords."

I was chilled as I heard Adrienne speak those words. If we were going to be assaulted, this certainly would be the trigger. I also realized that I had stupidly neglected to bring either of the swords.

"That can't be true. I was right here, all the time," Odin objected. It was now his turn to be chilled, as Hermione spoke the words, which got right to the heart of the matter.

"You had only one eye."

Frijjo dropped her glass and the sound of its shattering hung in the quiet room.

It was Frijjo who spoke first. "We owe you an explanation. Believe me, we don't often give explanations of our affairs to mortals. I believe you must have been attacked by Odin. My companion here is not Odin. He is Odin's brother, Vili. Odin often departs upon long, distant, and dangerous wanderings – usually when his temper has caused enough trouble here in Asgard that he feels the need to self-exile himself. Sometimes he leaves when the battle fury is upon him and he seeks another venue for his fighting, rather than destroy the tenuous peace of Asgard.

"Odin is powerful, but there are many powerful sons and other Aesir here on Asgard. Even on his home world, there are places where it is best that Odin not travel, lest we have another civil war. If Odin attacked you, then I fear that we are all in great peril. Odin knows that I sleep with his brother, while he is away. That doesn't mean that he appreciates my behavior. Sometimes it makes him very angry. If he knows about the night Adrienne, Vili, and I spent together, he may be very angry, indeed. He views certain things as his personal prerogative."

"As Frijjo has said, this could be very bad," Odin, or rather Vili, told us. "You must explain exactly what happened to you and why Odin attacked. Did you insult him?"

"I wasn't there, when the fight began," I admitted. I don't know why this should embarrass me, but it did.

"We did not insult your brother," Hermione spoke very bravely. "He was speaking to us normally about the need to restore the circle, from which we took the purple diamond you are now holding. All of a sudden, the circle became extremely bright, then demons came out of it and attacked us. Odin didn't actually try to kill us personally, but he looked very angry and antagonistic."

"Blacky was with me when the fight started, but he can show you the end of the battle – what happened after I returned."

As if he understood every word I had said, Blacky immediately fluttered over to Vili, perching upon his shoulder and touching his head to Vili's. He perched in that position for several minutes, before returning to my own shoulder.

"I see," Vili told me. "I don't know if it is a good or a bad thing that you have all but killed Odin. It was clearly self-defense, but I doubt Odin or his allies among the Aesir will see things in that kindly a light. This also involves Frijjo. You must show her what you just showed me."

Blacky flew over to Frijjo and re-played the fight for her. At several moments, she let out clearly audible gasps. This reminded me of my folly. Of course Blacky knew where I had done with Odin's body. For good or for bad, Vili and Frijjo now knew more of the story than I had intended to tell them. At least Blacky's version of events ended with Odin cocooned on the pyramid floor. I hadn't taken him with us, when we shoved Odin into not-quite-a-world.

"Oh no!"

As heads turned my way, I realized that I had said that out loud. The shock of the realization that Blacky had seen us renew the triple-'off!' we had applied to Odin, had shattered my self-control. I could only hope that he had stopped his replay at the battle seen and not shared this later view.

I covered my vocalization by explaining "Frijjo thinks this is even worse than Vili does. We didn't seek trouble, but we've found a lot of it."

The not-so-comforting Vili told me "anyone who leads a Quest should know that she is seeking trouble. One can never know exactly what sort of trouble, but it is almost the iron rule of Questing that trouble will find you."

Blacky landed back on my shoulder, just as Frijjo spoke.

"I don't know what is best. This is a great crisis for the Aesir. Even after all these years as the consort of Odin, I am still considered Vanir, so my view counts for little more than your own. Vili will have to be the one to make whatever explanations are needed. That is tricky. Me and Vili – that is known, but studiously unknown to the masses of the Aesir. It is particularly tricky with some of Odin's sons. Me and Vili and Adrienne – that is a most serious problem. Mating with a mortal is a serious crime among the Aesir. Odin is powerful enough to get away with it. Vili is a touchier situation. The three of us…? Yet, it gets worse. I can tell that your Adrienne is with child."

Yes, that certainly counted as worse.

"I'm not a fool," Adrienne hastened to defend herself. "I have used the proper anti-fertility potion. I suspected I might have a problem. I didn't tell you, because I wasn't sure."

"A major God has ways of over-coming such potions," Vili admitted. "I had a portent that a son borne to me by this lovely Witch would do great things, would even bridge the gap between our two peoples."

"You are a great fool, Vili! These things always cause problems. I'm afraid that there is no other solution. Adrienne must lose your child. Odin will soon be alert and free. The puny mortal magic won't bind him for long. I fear we are already out of time to act."

"No Frijjo, the child is very important. The portent was most clear. Yes, we have little time to decide what to do about Odin. His fury will be boundless."

"So we are mortal pawns in a battle between Gods?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. We didn't mean it to be like this," Vili apologized.

I got the impression that he didn't apologize to many mortals. I feared this meant he and Frijjo couldn't solve the problem on their own.

"I take it you've had similar problems with Odin in the past?" Hermione asked Frijjo.

"Let's just say that another Quest ended very badly in similar circumstances. I was living with Odin's other brother, Ve, at the time. Ve has been living, Odin assures me that Ve still lives, in exile ever since. That was over a millennia ago. Odin can hold a grudge for a very long time, even among family."

"Especially among family," Vili corrected her. "Speaking of family, if Viorr learns of this, we are all dead. He is very protective of his father's honor."

"How would he possibly find out, unless Odin tells him?" Frijjo suggested.

As Vili looked very shocked, Frijjo hastened to add "I'm not suggesting that we kill Odin or imprison him forever. We need to convince him to forgive and not seek revenge. He surely doesn't know the whole story. Likely one of his bird spies gave him the barest details and he has assumed the worst. Our first thought must be to make amends. All that Odin knows for certain is what he observed himself upon entering that pyramid."

"Which means he knows about us and considers us to be his enemies," I objected, not seeing this as favorable news at all. I quickly decided that it was foolish of me to approach the problem from this direction. As long as Frijjo and Vili saw this as more their problem than ours, they would do their best to help us solve it. To the extent they saw Odin's anger as directed primarily against us – well, I could see them slaying us, freeing Odin, and presenting our bodies to him as tribute. It did not escape me that Odin had attacked us within the in-between-worlds pyramid, rather than returning to his silver palace, Valskjalf, to punish Frijjo and Vili.

"We must act quickly. Your curses leave him alert, thinking, and able to sense everything that happens around him. If he is unable to move, he will become more and more angry and desperate. Odin is a wanderer by nature. He hates nothing more than being confined." As Frijjo said this, I could easily picture her freeing her husband, while offering us up as the dead villains. I realized that I didn't know if these Gods could read our minds. I focused upon my attempts at Occlumency, even as I realized than any possible damage from mind reading had already been done.

Well, if that was the case, I might as well reach to Hermione through my Stone.

**I'm worried that these two will kill us and use our bodies as a peace offering to Odin.**

**I agree. I don't know what we can do. It's best to keep Frijjo and Vili on our side. Vili tricked us into believing he was Odin. He's not to be trusted. Just consider how he treated Adrienne.**

**I know. We're strongest if they think we want to help them. Let want to see Adrienne die, at least not for the next eight months. That's at least a small advantage. I have Harry listening in by the way.**

**And Harry says you must be very careful. I'll send reinforcements, whenever you ask. Find out more about Odin and Vili, and Frijjo, for that matter. Is it common knowledge on Asgard that Vili is impersonating his brother?**

**Whatever happens, we need to get back to Odin, before he either dies or escapes on his own. I'll message you through the Stone, if I need you to rescue Odin. If you don't hear from me in eight hours, just do it. Remember, you can immobilize him with a triple-'petrificus totalis'. That will force him to listen to your full explanation. Tell him: your wife is very sorry, she thought Vili was him, we mean him no harm, we know he is the top God and we are loyal to him. Then you may just have to release him and hope for the best.**

**I agree with Ginny.**

Frijjo and Vili, who had been whispering to themselves, turned their attention back to us, so I broke the Stone content.

"I need you to confirm some things that your raven saw and didn't see," Frijjo told me. "I didn't see either Sleipnir or his ravens with Odin. Did you seem them inside the pyramid?"

"Sleipnir is his magical, extra-legged horse," Hermione explained to me, before telling Frijjo "No, they weren't present."

"That makes sense. The pyramid is too confined for any of them to be of much help to Odin. Did he have his magical spear?"

"No, he didn't," Hermione was very sure of this.

"Okay, the ravens are out spying for him. Once they finish their mission, they will search for him. They can fly between worlds. They may already have found Odin. It is very likely that his birds reported your visit to Asgard and saw me on the lawn with you. Unfortunately, our sleeping chamber is open to the sky, so those accursed ravens could have seen everything. They live for tittle tattle."

"What does that suggest as our best course of action?" I tried to push the conversation further in this kind of favorable direction.

"I want your help, even though you seem to be in less danger than the rest of us. If Odin blamed Ginny as the Quest leader, he would have attacked her while she was outside the pyramid. That was easier than entering the pyramid. Odin may have been mainly upset that the magical circle was deactivated. I didn't know whose circle it was, but it may well have been my husband's. Now that I am calmer, I don't think he was in a rage because of my little infidelity. He knows I'm a slut. He usually likes that."

Now I was in a real quandary. Should I tell her that the magical circle in question had been obliterated, beyond any hope of repair by my team. Did I have a choice. I had already surrendered the shards of the diamond Odin had used to fix that circle. They must know the circle was toast. They had seen Blacky's visual memory of the battle.

"The circle is totally destroyed," I admitted. "I doubt you can quickly fix it. I couldn't fix it at all, even if Vili gave me the purple diamond to use in the repairs. I can't find replacement silicons and I don't know exactly what the crystals in the inner ring were made of."

"They were calcite," Hermione helped me out, "but more perfect calcites than we could find in nature."

"If necessary, we can get replacement silicons and crystals," Vili assured me. "If it is necessary to make peace with my brother, I will certainly surrender this diamond."

Okay, we were all thinking like helpful members of a unified team intent on assuaging Odin's anger.

"If we are to have any chance of success with my brother and any hope of preserving the powerful good portents which I saw, then Odin must not see Adrienne. You must keep her safely hidden and none of us may mention her to my brother. Correct that - none of the Aesir, other than me, must know of her existence. Fortunately none have seen her. We must transport her in secret back to your world. My brother saw her at the pyramid, but she would have been of no significance to him. She could be just another Witch member of your Quest team, who perished in the battle."

"You forget what his ravens may have seen and reported," Hermione reminded Vili.

"Well, the birds couldn't possibly know that she carries my child. At least that much must be secret. It will be apparent to Odin the minute he sees her. We can reasonably hope that he didn't get a close enough look at her inside the pyramid to learn that particular secret."

Okay, that could work. I whispered to Adrienne. She was perfectly happy to have me suggest that she might be of greatest help by going home and finding a safe place to hide. She was a brave Witch, but eager to grasp at a plan that allowed her to help us without having to be overly brave for a long time. I sympathized with her. Very prolonged periods of extreme danger can destroy one's courage, mind, and soul. I was happy to be able to spare her that.

I thought that I might be in trouble as Vili stabbed a finger in the direction of my glass and challenged, "You haven't touched your mead. Do you fear that I would poison you?"

Think quick, I ordered my mind. "No, of course not – I realize how easily you could kill me, if it suited your needs. I just want to keep all my wits about me in this time of peril. I also well remember my close escape the last time I drank mead with you."

That seemed to satisfy him.

Frijjo revealed the plan and it was about the same as I had told Harry. "We must go to Odin, while he is still bound by your spell. I must speak for all of us. We must be as apologetic, deferential, and loyal as possible in everything said, without giving away bad deeds which he may not already know about. Don't lie. He can detect lies. Telling less than the full truth is much harder to detect. I wish we could know exactly what his birds have told him, but that isn't possible. Just the bare truth, as if we are too ashamed to go into all the details. I must drip sincerity with every word. You must support my story.

"As for your actions, you thought you were dealing with Odin when you came to Asgard. You were surprised to be attacked by a one-eyed, almost-Odin. He is bigger and does look very different when he is in one of his rages. Not having the birds was another clue that he wasn't the Odin you had dealt with. You had no choice but to defend yourselves. You came to me for advice. It took too long, but we can't get past that, so we just do the best we can. No further delay. We return Adrienne to your world, then we go to my husband."

"I must admit that I was very surprised that the first Odin had two eyes," Hermione sheepishly told Frijjo. "I further admit that when he appeared inside the pyramid, I knew at once that he really was Odin. I didn't realize that Vili had impersonated Odin, until he opened the door to us. I just assumed that he could change the number of eyes he had, like he could change his size. The legends of my world are vague and inaccurate. They're all that I had to go on."

"That will do, I think," Vili sounded optimistic.

"Can Odin read minds?" I had to know the answer to this question.

"Sometimes," was Frijjo's quite unhelpful answer.

"He can't read the minds of his fellow Aesir or even the Vanir, but he can sometimes read the minds of mortals. It is a spotty thing," Vili told us.

"You must practice what your people call Occlumency," Frijjo told us, "but you must do it in a way that is not obvious. If you can't do that, just keep your mind filled with thoughts which aren't a danger to our cause. If you think contrition, fear of the power of Odin, the helplessness of poor mortals such as yourselves, loyalty to Odin and the Light Guardian – then you should be fine. Thinking the same thought over and over, like a mantra, can work. Make it something innocent, like a prayer for deliverance to the Light Guardian. Odin will accept that as normal. He may even respect it."

"Enough talk, it is time to travel," Vili told us.

"Before we go, I have two things to tell you," I confessed to Vili. "First, the curse we used on Odin is one that puts him in a deep sleep. He won't hear anything, nor will he sense the passage of time. Second, I was afraid someone would find him and help him to escape, before I could talk to you. I moved him from the pyramid floor to a very dead in-between-world. He was alive when we left him. I hope he still is… both alive and still sleeping."

"All the more reason to move very quickly," Frijjo declared.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter Forty-Six – Talking At Odin**

I suggested that I would apparate us all to the red-grass portal. Vili demurred. He had thought further upon the problem before us and now believed that his presence would hinder our chances to make peace with his brother. It was far better that Odin hear the tale from Frijjo and me. Odin was not fond of being impersonated, and it couldn't possibly benefit our cause to raise that additional, highly contentious issue.

"Then I guess we have to do this on our own," I told Vili. "If we need to reach you, where will you be hiding?"

"I won't be 'hiding', but you are correct that I won't be at Valaskjalf. If you need to reach me, contact me through the White Column at Durmstrang. Don't bring the Asgard White Column into the conversation. Odin will be listening in. I'm not abandoning you. You really do have better odds without me. Here, this may help you."

Vili handed me what looked like a very short, very narrow wooden straw. "It's a whistle. You may need it to summon one of my ravens. Odin's ravens won't answer to it. Raven spies are hardly unknown on Asgard – all of their masters have a unique call. I know that you use a mental call for your bird. Most of us can't do that without a White Column nearby. Here, you probably also need this."

He returned the white handkerchief with the remains of the purple diamond.

"The portal likely will be watched," Frijjo warned. "When we get there, we must move very quickly."

"And we must fire a barrage of curses to cover ourselves as we enter the pyramid. Anyone who's able to reach to the Stone for power, do it now. Dial up your protective charms to the max. I've got the Peverell cloaks. We'll duck under them before we apparate, to give ourselves the element of surprise. Hermione will apparate her group five feet to the left side of the portal. I'll apparate my group to the right of the door, but within reaching distance of the control panel. Any attackers are probably taking aim right at the portal. As soon as the portal opens, each group immediately apparates diagnonally into the pyramid, so that a curse can't strike us, if it is fired straight into the pyramid. I'll be close enough to the control panel to close the portal. Does everyone agree?"

They did. Hermione and I counted down from five to zero. I found myself standing just to the side of the little marble panel that controls the portal. I reached my hand out from under the cloak just long enough to touch my ring to the indentation in the panel.

I heard my companions firing curses and turned to add my own. There was one male human, I thought he was likely a Wizard, and two demons. I fired 'Off!' curses at the Wizard. Then I fired a 'Storm' curse between them and us, as they started to advance on us. I heard the door snick open, so I called out "grab hands."

As soon as I had both hands full of comrade's hands, I apparated us inside the pyramid and touched my ring to the door. As the door started to snick closed, I saw that our attackers were still largely blinded and struggling with the swirling wind, dust, and gravel kicked up by curse. As the door banged closed, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's step one successfully completed," Adrienne told me. "Now, if Hermione can transport me back to our own pyramid and return with somebody to help you with the 'triple-petrificus', you can finish this project and I can go into seclusion. I'll send a bird to Neville, so you'll know where I'm staying. I'm still considering my options."

Fine. I settled in to await Hermione's return with reinforcements. I was extremely vulnerable. Odin might already be awake. What if he stormed through the third portal? Could I even trust Frijjo to be a part of our defense, or would she side with Odin and crush Mafalda and me? I wanted to open the portal to check whether Odin was starting to stir. I fought against that impulse. Then, I wondered if either Odin or Frijjo was causing me to think that I must open the portal and take just a little peek.

"What if our attackers can open the portal?" Frijjo asked me.

That was another nasty thought as I stood here, effectively on my own. Logic said that if our attackers could open the portal, they would have ambushed us inside the pyramid. That wasn't much solace. The attackers probably didn't share my sense of logic.

Blacky was on my shoulder. I asked him if he recognized the human-looking attacker. He did. The guy was Loki. He was an enemy of Odin.

I asked Frijjo "did you recognize our human assailant?"

"I just got a quick look at a distance, but I would say not human. It looked like Loki. He's a minor God on the Aesir side and no friend of my husband. Loki claims the land outside the portal as his own, so it makes sense that he is our attacker. He may have thought he was attacking Odin."

So, that was at least a mostly truthful answer - possibly wholly true. My truth teller sense didn't detect deception, but I realized that I couldn't read a Goddess. Vili and Frijjo had played an elaborate deception on us, and Hermione, Cissy, and I had all missed it.

Mafalda had been thinking about what Frijjo told me. She now expressed her concerns. "I've heard talk of Loki. He's a bad actor – not that powerful a God, but devious and always seeking personal advantage. He feels slighted by Odin, claiming that Frijjo has unfairly charmed Odin and elevated herself and some of the other Vanir Gods and Goddesses above him. He feels no Vanir should ever rank above any Aesir, regardless of how many Aesir Gods she has mated with. He positively hates her. If he knew that Frijjo was with us, that is why he attacked."

"Possibly so," Frijjo responded. "I think you over-state my importance. It is Odin whom Loki hates. He demands title to most of the red-grass lands. He is always making an alliance with one or more of the lesser Aesir, especially the later generations, to fight Odin or any Aesir, Vanir, or human who allies with Odin. He would not hesitate to kill any of you, if he knows you have visited Vili and me. I'm sure he does know. His children have their animal spies. Some of them practically are animals. Beware the killer wolf son. He is most dangerous. I'm surprised he wasn't with Loki. That's why I'm not certain that Loki was our attacker. I also didn't think he had demons under his control."

"Not to be impertinent, but your pal Vili was certainly eager to leave us to find a way to placate Odin. Do you feel as abandoned as I do?"

"It is good that Vili is here. He cannot deal with Odin, when he rages. We made the mistake of trying and he is still an exile. Vili knows that Odin will become calm and forgive in his own time. Vili could not fight Odin and win, not even if I assisted him, and I could not bring myself to combat against my husband. This situation must be managed by persuasion. I will take the lead, but you must be the ones to stun Odin. If I raise my hand against him, then he will not hear what I must say. He can be more stubborn than you can possibly imagine."

Hermione rejoined us. She had brought Brighid, the Cailleach, Scathach, and Cho. It was time for us to act. It was decided that Hermione, Mafalda, and I would perform the 'triple-petrificus totalis'. Mafalda said that Hermione and I were already in about as much trouble as we possibly could be, while she had volunteered to be the first to depart our realm. I think she suspected that the three of us might not survive past this day, but that she could save Cho.

I touched my ring to the indentation on the marble panel next to the third portal. I quickly knelt between Hermione and Mafalda, the tips of our wands touching and pointed at the portal. The door swished open. I saw the bundle of Odin, inside the half dozen Weasely cloaks. He wasn't stirring. I counted down "three, two, one 'petrificus totalis'".

A green spark shot through the barrier and struck the bundle. There was no visible change to our target.

"Alright everyone," I commanded, "we need to levitate Odin in through the magical barrier. We'll have to push him back and then accelerate him at the barrier as fast as we can. Don't stop pulling."

The Odin-bundle gently lifted off the ground. It floated back thirty feet from the barrier and then came rushing straight at us. It didn't quite make it through. It was lodged half-way through the portal. Air was hissing out past me and I could feel the chill around my feet and ankles.

Frijjo and the Cailleach reached out, grabbed the Odin-bundle, and yanked it the rest of the way into the pyramid. Odin came through so abruptly that he fell to the stone floor. I was able to almost stop him with a levitation spell, so that he landed relatively gently.

"Let's apparate him back to the floor of the pyramid," Hermione suggested.

We did that. Mafalda and I levitated him a foot off the ground, while Hermione and Frijjo gently unwrapped him. As the cloaks were stripped away, what was revealed was not Odin, but a log.

"That can't be," I gasped. "The bundle was right where we left it. He couldn't have awakened this quickly. Nobody knew he was here."

Well, not exactly nobody. My youngest brother knew. Did he blab to the wrong person? It was unreasonable to assume the Aesir lacked spies in our world. Did Vili see us renew the 'triple-Off!' when Blacky shared his images with him. Was this why Vili was so determined to separate from the rest of us?

"Could Ron have mentioned Odin's location to anyone?" I felt like a traitor even as the necessary question left my mouth. "I know, Hermione, it isn't likely, but we have to check the possibilities."

"No, I'm sure he didn't. I told him not to tell anybody, not even Harry. He knew how important and dangerous this was. I'm sure he kept his mouth shut. I think there are but two possibilities. Either Odin escaped on his own, or else he is Vili's prisoner."

"That's monstrous!" Frijjo truly was indignant. Perhaps she was overly indignant. I really needed to be able to tell when an Aesir or Vanir was lying to me. I did my best to memorize every little detail about Frijjo as she spoke, hoping that somewhere in our Light Guardian knowledge or the Black Stones store of secrets lay a technique that would allow me to know, to really, really know, if Frijjo was being truthful with me. Now, I just felt like an incapable little child being manipulated by powerful adults. I feared that I was Harry to Frijjo and Vili's Dumbledore. I feared that I had helped them to kill a major God and done so in a way that put all of the risk upon me and my Quest companions … and poor, helpful Ron.

I tried to hide these thoughts. "Could Odin have survived out there for a day?" I really wanted Frijjo's answer to this question.

"Yes. Odin is very powerful. It would take more than a day for the cold and lack of air to kill him, especially if you were correct and you had forced him into a very deep sleep. He has hibernated for over a year on an ice world. He was frozen solid, when I retrieved him. Obviously, he lived."

"The spell we used would disable a Wizard his size for at least a couple days. Is it possible that Odin could have revived in just…"

Hermione pulled a pocket watch from her jeans and finished my sentence for me. "In 5 hours and twenty-six minutes."

"I don't know. I don't understand your spell or your personal magical powers. Odin is certainly much more powerful than a Wizard. He would recover much more quickly. It might not even have been possible for you to drop him into a totally insensate, non-thinking hibernation. Even when he hibernated, I could, with a little difficulty, rouse him, when I needed to."

"Can Odin apparate? That's what I did to transport us from Valaskjalf to the red-grass portal."

"Of course Odin can apparate. He's a major God. You don't suppose that as a well-trained mortal that you possess any powers that are denied to Odin? You would be a very silly girl to think such a thing. The bigger question is whether Odin could apparate if you had paralyzed him and slowed his body and mind to a point just short of hibernation. I believe that if he strained, he could do so. Odin is more powerful than you can imagine."

"So he is likely lying someplace warm and defrosting, even as we stand here wondering what happened?"

"Yes, he may already be on the move. This is the first place he'd come, if his anger drove him to hunt down you and me. It's a good sign that he is not already here, but it would be unwise to linger."

Indeed it would be.

"I'm sorry, I'm not abandoning you to your fate or to Odin's wrath, but I must try to find and warn Vili. This likely is very, very bad. If Odin isn't seeking us, then he must be seeking my Vili."

Before I could object that I still required her help, she was gone. Even minor Vanir Goddesses could apparate from this pyramid.

"Back to our own world," I suggested. I didn't feel as if I was in charge, but the others followed me. I don't think they had any more idea what we must do next than I had. I didn't even know whether we needed to find Odin or hide from him.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter Forty-Seven – Are Older Heads Any Wiser?**

When we returned to the floor of our pyramid, I found it crowded with 'allies'. Both Dad and Tony were there. Dad had Ellie, Shacklebolt and a half dozen aurors. Tony had Steward and a half dozen female soldiers. McGonagall was also there, although I was surprised she was able to slip past my apparation barriers. McGonagall had Narcissa and both of the Greengrass girls with her. Bane had brought Firenze and two other Centaurs, whom I barely recognized but couldn't name. King Gobbledegook surprisingly had brought Torva as well as former King Goblanze. Cotto had Baal with him. Unstad was with the five Unicorns we had recruited for our first world-walk. Only the spider clan didn't seem to feel the need to bring reinforcements.

Most of the assemblage was drinking tea and eating biscuits, but McGonagall was arguing with Neville, while Narcissa was lecturing the Greengrasses. It took awhile for anyone to notice our arrival. That's the thing with world-walking – there is no loud pop to announce your arrival. Ron was talking to Harry and that's the direction we headed in, before Dad intercepted us to demand an explanation.

I tried the 'I'm too tired and this is too big a crowd, we need to go off and collect our thoughts' approach, but Dad was adamant. I tried the 'I'm the Mother of the Future, and this is my responsibility and I need to think about what I know, before I can explain it' approach. This had Tony reinforcing Dad's view that my attitude was wholly unacceptable. I was saved by Hermione.

"Fine, you're the bosses, but this really is way to big a group. After we give an update that you decide shouldn't have been shared with this many people will be five minutes too late to have had that thought, and then you'll blame us for blabbing secrets. We're going to go over to that far corner with Harry and Ron and chat among ourselves, while you decide the minimum group that we have to brief."

She turned her heel and walked away. Amazed and pleased at Hermione's boldness, I immediately followed her and the rest of my Quest team followed me. Neither Tony nor Dad said a word to stop us. We picked up Ellie and Neville on the way to our private corner of the pyramid.

I spoke directly to Neville. "I'm sorry if I am putting you on the spot. If it is too uncomfortable to be here and you want to leave, I will understand. I will not share my business with McGonagall or Narcissa Malfoy. I simply do not feel like it would be wise or even safe for me to do that. They are playing at their own game, which I don't understand or trust. By the way, how do they come to be on the pyramid floor? I thought I had blocked that."

Ellie looked very sheepish as she confessed, "you didn't fully trust the Black Stone, so you used a monolith to block access to the pyramid. McGonagall and Firenze prevailed upon your father to permit McGonagall's team access to the pyramid so that she could fairly conduct Narcissa's Quest. Well, it's very clearly McGonagall's Quest and Narcissa is just going along. I work for your father and had no choice but to drop the apparation barriers."

"Allowing anyone at all to apparate into the pyramid, while I was off on a dangerous mission and thinking of that pyramid as a safe place to retreat to. I'm sorry, but you can leave this meeting. I don't feel as though I should share my business with you, either."

"Of course I'll leave if you don't want me here, but is that really fair? I'm not in a position where I can say no to an order from the Minister."

"Which means if Dad pushes you, you'll feel that you have no choice but to blab everything that we say in this meeting – no thank you!"

"I do see your point. I promise that I won't share this meeting with the Minister. I do hope that you can find a job for me if I get fired."

We told the group everything that had transpired during our visit to Asgard and our attempt to meet with Odin. I said that we had been unable to use our truth teller skills to tell if Vili and Frijjo had been truthful with us. I said that I was becoming very suspicious of them and intended to search my unpacked memories for a technique that would upgrade my truth telling skills. I told them that I had memorized every nuance that I could of how Frijjo had sounded and looked during our last meeting with her. This prompted Hermione to do some of what she likely regarded as premature sharing of unproven hypotheses.

"I have searched my memories. I too did my best to remember everything about Frijjo. I did find something about changes in the aura of a lying Goddess. I'm not sure it would work on Odin or Vili, but I think it did with Frijjo. My best guess, and I may very well be wrong, is that Frijjo was somewhere between deceptive and outright lying."

"Not a surprise to me," I assured her.

We talked about the need to follow Frijjo back to Asgard, starting at Valaskjalf. From the Durmstrang White Column, we could walk right into the silver palace. That was the basic security flaw in Odin's decision to build his palace where all of the White Columns came together. I said we likely could also world-walk into Valaskjalf from the White Column beneath Azkaban, but that I wasn't eager for a quick return to that soul destroying place.

Neville agreed that we should return to Asgard, but that we needed to arrive in more strength than our prior scouting party. We should expect even odds of a major battle. Frijjo and Vili had tried to lie their way out of a problem, rather than harming us, but now that we knew of their lies, they would likely resort to murder.

We were in agreement on what we must do and beginning to discuss whom among those arrayed across the pyramid floor we were unwilling to share these thoughts with, when Tony interrupted us.

"We've given you time to meet. The time for action may be very limited. Your father asked me to request, and I wholly agree, that you join us for a more inclusive meeting. I suspect that your extreme retisence is due to the presence of your former headmaster."

"Whom do you and Dad propose that we meet with?"

"I think you should add your father and me, as well as Firenze, Bane, Cotto, King Gobbledegook, and Unstad. I'd also like to include Stewart and your father wishes to include Percy. It's basically Hermione's committee plus your whole Quest team."

"I don't want King Gobbledegook, Firenze and Cotto blabbing our business back to McGonagall and Narcissa," I told Tony. "They've been of more help to McGonagall's competing Quest than they have been to us."

"I will ask them to stipulate confidentiality as a condition of participation," Tony assured me.

"Fine, bring your chairs and we can meet in this corner. I don't want to leave the pyramid unguarded. Your weapons were of no use against Odin and his demons."

"I realize that. They now have swords and flame-throwers. They may work better. Neville and your father have done what they can to increase the magic in our swords. I chose ancient swords which I thought might actually hold some magic."

Tony left and returned with the agreed guests. Unfortunately, McGonagall chose to trail after the approved guests. I gave her what I hoped was a firm, forbidding look. It might not have been, because it didn't stop her.

"I know that you don't want to include me. You should. It's only fair that Narcissa and I know all that we can about the dangers we will face on our Quest."

"You are not to be trusted. Narcissa and the other Slytherin Questers are especially not to be trusted. I won't endanger my team by sharing our thinking with you. That would be very unfair to them. I have a duty to protect my team, not yours. You and Narcissa have betrayed too many people who trusted you."

"I'm very sorry that you feel that way. My knowledge and wisdom could make your Quest safer. I'll not press further to join your meeting. Will you at least meet with me in my apartment later today?"

"We'll meet with you, but not with Narcissa and the others."

"So be it."

Even after McGonagall left us, the meeting began very awkwardly. Firenze raised the big subject. "Cotto, King Gobbledegook, and I swear that we will treat everything said in this meeting in the strictest confidence. I am disturbed that you still distrust us. We are doing what we can to help you in your Quest."

"King Gobbledegook actively sabotaged us. You and Cotto seem all to quick to assist a competing Quest, while the members of my team are still in great danger. You seem far more obliging to McGonagall and Narcissa than you were to us. It's been a very long while since you've given us any help at all. I know that you persuaded Dad to allow our adversaries entrance to the floor of the pyramid. I assume they messed around in the control room. Victoria is a part of their team and she still had access."

"No to the last question. Victoria refused to open any of the pyramid portals for Professor McGonagall. There was a loud fight and Victoria resigned from the Quest team. Professor McGonagall is now very upset that nobody on her team has rings which will operate the pyramid portals, in the event they have an emergency requiring that action." Firenze seemed relieved to be able to report that bit of positive news.

"My daughter is part of your Quest. I did not see my prior interference as in any way creating actual danger, just making your camp less comfortable. I was wrong. I promise you that I will do nothing that puts Tendra or any member of your team in danger. My goal is to help you succeed. My concept of the Quest was flawed. I admit my error. Please believe that you can trust me. I have gotten to know your McGonagall quite well from the bank and I am convinced that she is honorable and would not knowingly increase your danger. I think you can trust her. That is a very difficult thing for me to say, because I greatly distrust Narcissa and think she would willingly cheat and harm you to gain what she sees as a great reward for a successful Quest. I assist them by duty, not by choice."

"My feelings are the same as King Gobbledegook's," Cotto told me. "I and Firenze have an absolute duty to assist any Quest leader who is not rejected by the Black Stone or by the Light Guardian. Perhaps you could persuade your Stone to reject their Quest. You must hurry. They depart in less than three days."

I would strongly consider that suggestion. I looked at Hermione and she nodded that we could go ahead and tell our tale. We all took turns doing so, with Aagog being surprisingly loquacious. I could tell that Dad was quite upset by what he heard.

He was upset enough that I commented "none of that should come as a great surprise, Dad. You saw Odin and his demons fighting us. We all knew they were very strong and that the Aesir Gods and Goddesses are devious. We've told you virtually everything. The final piece is for you and Tony, alone."

I was delayed, because Mafalda chose this moment to speak.

Mafalda explained that she wasn't really all that surprised to meet a two-eyed Odin. "When I met him previously, he showed me both his one-eyed and two-eyed form. He is calmer with both eyes, but has more magical power and physical strength in his one-eyed form. He traded that eye for knowledge of deep magic and other powers. He gives a lot up to appear with both of his eyes. Odin could impersonate Vili, but Vili could not impersonate a one-eyed Odin. I cannot be positive who entertained us in Asgard, but I am absolutely certain that Odin attacked us inside the other pyramid.

"I am a little surprised that Loki was unable to enter that pyramid. He is a minor Aesir God, but that portal is on what he considers his land, and he would have spared no effort to gain entry at some time. If he didn't follow you into the pyramid, I would bet that it was because he didn't want to. As you can tell, I've done a lot of thinking while the rest of you told our tale. I can't prove what I just told you, but I know I am correct. At my age, one just knows about such things. Remember, I'm the only one of us who had met Odin prior to the Quest."

I took Dad by the arm and led him to another vacant corner of the pyramid. Tony and Hermione followed.

"I'll ask the question I've refrained from asking," Dad began, "what has happened to Professor Celine. Did she abandon you as Narcissa did. I fully understand your bitterness toward Narcissa and imagine that you now feel the same way about Professor Celine."

"No. Adrienne left the Quest and went into hiding, by mutual decision. She is pregnant by Vili and in great peril from Odin and possibly also from Frijjo or Vili. If Vili is afraid of Odin finding out, killing and disposing of Adrienne's body might well appear to be his best solution."

"Where is she?"

"I didn't want to know, Dad. I don't know how skilled the Aesir are at legilimancy."

"That's mind reading," Dad whispered to Tony.

Dad and Tony both agreed that we should return to Aesir in force. Dad thought it wise that we planned to at least give a listen to McGonagall. Dad was stalling. I waited for what he wanted to tell me.

"Odin was very powerful. I'm frightened for you. Tony explained to me how fighters with our kind of magic can knock one of his soldier's rocket grenades out of the air or erect a magical barrier against it. It isn't so easy to protect against an unseen Muggle bomb. I know it's a risk, but I want you and Hermione to take some Muggle bombs back to Asgard with you. You need something to even the odds and to strengthen any defensive position you set up. Maybe you can even put the silver palace at risk. I want you to take one or two of what Tony's people call 'this one's a big mother bombs', like the ones Lord Montaigne had."

Tony winced at this last comment. I got the full flavor of just how frightened Dad was. I would consider his suggestion. I didn't want a God to search our magical carry bags and find a bomb. I would have a very hard time explaining a bomb, but I couldn't deny that I needed something. Our surprise destruction of the little circle, which Odin had energized with his own purple diamond, was really the only thing that had stopped him. Without that, we'd all be dead. Ordinary magic hadn't saved us.

We passed McGonagall on the way back to our team. "We're going for food," I told her. "Well see you in an hour."

As we sat down at table to a platter of warm Naan bread, along with an India pale ale, which the label said actually came from India, and both a vegetarian and a chicken curry, a thought sprung into my head, between forkfuls of curry.

"Mafalda, did you say that it was Loki who attacked us and that the portal was on his land, because you knew that from personal knowledge, or did you say that because Blacky and Frijjo identified him as Loki?"

"I guess I don't know from personal knowledge that the portal is on Loki's land, but I have crossed paths with that God, perhaps sixty years ago. He identified himself as Loki at that time. He made it clear that he was no friend of Odin."

"Thanks, that confirms at least part of Frijjo's story. It's good to know she isn't feeding us a total lie."

Neville had some news for Hermione and me, which he hadn't wanted to impart with as many ears as surrounded me inside the pyramid. "While you were away, Draco, Luna, and baby Erin visited me. Draco said that his mother's enthusiasm for the Quest was cooling. The departure of Victoria had affected her. Draco was convinced that his mother saw the leader of successful Quest as receiving the great prize of a magical sword, far more powerful than the Sword of Gryffindor.

"She had wanted that for herself. It was to be her ultimate defense against the remaining Death Eaters and Grindelwalds, or a bargaining chip they wouldn't pass up, or something that would make her so powerful that they would fear to cross her. She was also souring on the Quest because McGonagall was assuming too much control. Narcissa feared that if her Quest succeeded, it would be McGonagall who claimed the sword. Draco was very worried. He said McGonagall had a great deal of control over his mother. He even checked, as best he could, to make sure Narcissa wasn't Imperiused. He said she was not. He said he could not save his mother from McGonagall, but he could keep her away from his child."

Apparently there was something even more secret. As the four of us were leaving to visit McGonagall, Neville drew me aside and whispered in my ear – very forward behavior for Neville. I could feel the warmth of his breath and his arm grazed my breast. "I know it's neither of our business, but I really like both Luna and George. You have to warn Luna – she's spending way too much time at Draco Manor and George is getting more and more upset. Not quite jealous upset - he can't picture Luna with Draco, and the Greengrass girls spend a lot of time at the Manor also - but George is both very upset and very afraid that if he says anything to Luna, that her independent streak will kick in and there will an explosion which cannot be repaired. Luna is more likely to listen to you than to me. Please do something."

McGonagall must have done something to cause her stairs to accept us, as we were able to walk right up to her door. She opened it within seconds of my first knock. As promised, she was alone, although I had no doubt she could remember and relay anything we said to Narcissa. Of course, why should she? It was clear that she was the one running the other Quest. It likely suited her purpose to tell Narcissa as little as she could get away with.

We sat in the chairs that McGonagall had provided. I thought this was the first time I had sat here without Trew being present. McGonagall didn't fill up the space as well on her own.

"Thank you for seeing me. I won't give you sherry. After your experience with the mead, that would only raise your suspicions of my intent. I truly wish you well.

"Everyone, including Narcissa, seems to think I am in this Quest to gain a powerful magic sword for myself. I know that's what Narcissa is after. It's the only reason she agreed to do the Quest. I know you and Hermione are using your truth teller talents now, so I will let you look straight at my face. My goal in this Quest is to save your lives and ease your progress. You are very brave, but you are in very grave danger. A difficulty with your youth is that you don't viscerally accept the likelihood that one of the Gods you meet will kill you. You think you can think and fight your way out of any jam you get yourselves into."

"I know that I can die," I told her honestly.

"You know it, but you don't feel it. Hogwarts hasn't taught you how dangerous the ancient Gods can be. I saw all the dead bodies you brought back the other day – soldiers and an experience auror. I've looked into Mafalda's eyes. She is not at all afraid to die, but she is very frightened – she is frightened for you. She doesn't want to see bright, vital young Witches killed by Gods whom they can't possibly understand."

"We saw how powerful Odin is. We know how lucky we were to escape our battle with him. We won by trickery. Perhaps we even were allowed to win."

"Well, it seems you have more sense than I credited you with. Still, you need all the help you can get. I repeat what I told you last summer: I am not your enemy. I am more than willing to help you. I have knowledge and skills that you need. If I go on my Quest, and it is my Quest, I will do so to distract attention from you, learn anything that can assist you, and reduce the number of assignments you can reasonably be sent on. There is no way that I can steal your glory or your reward, your Quest is too far ahead of mine. By the time I reach the end of my journey, your Quest will have ended in victory or defeat."

"I seek neither reward nor glory," I told her.

"I believe you. Still, if you succeed, you will richly deserve both, and I shall not begrudge you your victory. I think you are correct not to give your full trust to King Gobbledegook or even Cotto. I think Firenze has your interests at heart and feels very remorseful to have started your Quest badly. He has done everything possible to dissuade me from Questing, apart from cheating. I don't think it possible for Firenze to cheat on something he regards as a sacred duty. You should talk to Firenze in private. Just you, Hermione, and Firenze."

"If you are willing to trust me and my Quest just a little bit, I need your help. People are very loyal to you. Victoria left me because she thought I demanded that she betray you. I didn't view what I asked as a betrayal. We would not have harmed your precious control landing. I needed to know that the landing could provide an escape path for my team, should the need arise. I doubt I could succeed, but I certainly would not in any event try to deny you access to your Stone. I hope that you will allow me at least partial access.

"Allow me to use it to communicate with my team and our Keepers back home. Allow me to use its knowledge to complete necessary research far quicker than I otherwise could. Allow me to use the power of your Stone as evidence to Narcissa that our Quest is something other than a foolhardy whim of an old professor."

"I admit that I was very unhappy to learn that you had persuaded Firenze to wheedle my Dad to allow you access to the pyramid floor. That turned Ellie against me."

"That didn't turn Ellie against you, any more than it turned your Dad against you. She is totally committed to Harry, Hermione and you. I don't think she even likes me. Firenze did what he did out of a sense of duty to his role as facilitator of Quests. Believe me when I say that he would like nothing more that to be able to disqualify our Quest. If your Stone even hints at an objection, Firenze will bar me. Until then, he will do the minimum that he feels he must do. It saddens him to think that my Quest might be less arduous than yours and that he is to blame for that.

"So, please, give Mafalda your permission to come on my Quest. Give me at least limited access to your Stone and allow me to use the button in the landing that transports one to the Goblin's cave. Is that really too much to ask? As the leader of a Quest, you are well aware of the cold logic of Quests. If I am unworthy, if I am not meant to Quest and to succeed, then I will be fated to fail, probably even to die. I accept that. We can help each other. I don't ask to listen in on your team's private conversations. Surely you can block those. Please leave a way that you, Hermione, and I can contact each other through the Stone. I think it is in our community's interest that at least one of our Quest's succeed. Yours has the first and the best shot at success. Perhaps what we communicate back and forth can help each other.

"And please, for everyone's sake – don't be overly trusting of the Aesir and Vanir. They have caused great mischief to us in the past and won't hesitate to do so again. Now… have I been truthful with you?"

Hermione and I agreed that McGonagall had been truthful. I asked for her ring. I made a minor adjustment, which I told her would allow her to enter the control landing. I told her that I would tell the Stone to permit her the limited access she had requested, but that I would also tell the Stone to inform me of the information she had accessed. I would not snoop on her communications with her Quest team.

I had one more gripe that I couldn't ignore. "You know that you were very insistent about being a Keeper for my team. You have abandoned my team, just as Narcissa did. Now Barb lacks a Keeper, and don't tell me that Draco can be her Keeper.

"Make Ellie or Luna her Keeper. Luna needs to spend less time with Draco, anyway. I think we both know that you never wanted me as a Keeper. I assumed that when Narcissa left your Quest, that you wanted me gone as well. You weren't exactly welcoming."

I couldn't deny any of that. I'd have a talk with Barb, before we left for Asgard.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter Forty-Eight – Meeting with Firenze**

I wanted to complete some more visits before calling it a day. I suggested that we go right to the forest to speak to Firenze and Bane. At least Harry liked the idea. Ron and Hermione seemed more interested in hurrying home for some much needed recreation. I said that they should stop by our house for breakfast and I would let them know what the Centaurs had to say.

After my pique was brushed to the side, the Centaurs had quite a lot to say. It took quite a while to get to that point. I was frustrated and I was angry. The meeting started badly, as I was unable to paper over my displeasure at Firenze's part in McGonagall's entrance into the pyramid. I misspoke and gave voice to my lingering feelings that he had favored Narcissa from day one. I told him that the last thing I wanted was to have Narcissa in charge of the pyramid, while I considered it my safe haven escape during a dangerous mission.

"I know that you are being emotional. Death and extreme danger do that to the best of us," Firenze partially pardoned me, "but I think your head knows how unfair and wrong that feeling is. Your aurors and soldiers always controlled the pyramid. I didn't grant Narcissa access. I merely relayed her request to your father, as is my duty as Keeper of the Universe. Applying to lead a Quest does give certain rights to Narcissa. I can't just reject her. I have not 'favored her from day one' as you claim. I am very aware of Narcissa's unsavory past. I do trust Professor McGonagall and recognize her as the driving force behind this other Quest.

"It is very unusual to have two simultaneous Quests. I am powerless to prevent that. Believe me, I take no pleasure from the thought of Voldemort's daughter putting herself forward as Mother of the Future. I certainly do not accept her in that capacity. To me, you are the only Mother of the Future for our time. Prophecy supports you, not her. The Light Guardian chose you. I would never go against the Light Guardian. Even without all of that, I would never hurt you. You are a friend and a favorite student. We fought together to save the universe. You were willing to make the greatest of sacrifices. I honor that. I can help you, if you can bring yourself to trust me."

"I am trying to pull my mind back to the place we shared working on the Yantra together, but I keep coming back to the obvious… you haven't helped my Quest, you've impeded it. You haven't gone to anyone's father to ease my path, just to my father to ease hers."

"I know that you still resent my forcing Narcissa onto your Quest. I should have convinced you of the wisdom of doing so, rather than just forcing the issue. As a horcrux, she was a danger to all of us. I seized the opportunity to solve that problem. I admit that Professor McGonagall convinced me of the need to act, but you must see that it was the right thing to do. I realize this started your Quest on a nasty taste. When Narcissa abandoned the Quest, you thought she had been a spy who was now planning sabotage. When she announced her own Quest, that fear was confirmed. When Slytherin appeared, I know it must have seemed like Narcissa, Cotto, and I conspired to spring a nasty trap on you. I should have listened to your concerns. I was officious. I apologized for that.

"I apologized for foisting Narcissa upon you. I do think you are better off both to have the horcrux gone and to have her off your Quest team. I gave you back Adrienne to replace her. You now seem to have mislaid Adrienne.

"No… I won't ask for an explanation. The important point is to get you to stop holding a grudge against me for Narcissa. I did what I thought was right. I did it the wrong way, and I did some other wrong things. I know that. I can't change what I did. I can only strive to do the right thing now. I can't help you if you shut me out or ignore what I say. It is hard to challenge a God. You need help."

"McGonagall suggested that I talk to you, not that I view her as a great character reference. But I do see you as a friend. You should know that since the run-up to the Battle of Hogwarts, I have seen myself as fully adult and don't take at all well to those who would manipulate me, even if they do so for what they view as my best interests. I must decide my best interests.

"I agreed to lead the Quest, a Quest that was described to me in a way that I found utterly repellant, because you and others said it was necessary for all of our communities. I didn't do it for wealth, power, or glory, or for the chance to defy danger. I did it because I was convinced that it must be done, and that Hermione and I must be the ones to do it. Now Narcissa and McGonagall are going to Quest on terms that are a summer picnic compared to what was described to me.

"If McGonagall and Narcissa are acceptable Questers and representatives of our communities, then the dangers I've faced, the time I've spent away from Harry, and the worry I've caused Harry and my parents – they make no sense to me. First you said I was the one who must lead the Quest, now you say 'whoops! Narcissa and McGonagall will be perfectly fine.' Hermione was less willing to Quest than I was. She did it as a very unpleasant but necessary duty. She was guilted into it – largely by you. I guess I just can't help feeling a little betrayed by all who urged this unwelcome path upon me. It is looking less and less likely that I will succeed or that I will even survive this Quest. You are still my friend, but know that I am very unhappy with the way I have been treated, and that I am even unhappier on Hermione's behalf.

"My Quest has been a complete and utter failure. All I've accomplished is the unleashing of Salazar Slytherin and an enraged Odin upon our world. I could have done a better job, but part of the blame for all of that belongs with you. If I had listened to you more than I did, things would be even worse than they are. So with that said, how can you help us?"

"I must defend Firenze," Bane told me. "He certainly has spoken to other people's parents on your behalf. How do you suppose that Cantring and Pegasus came to join your Quest? Who do you suppose cleared the way for Hagrid with the spiders? Who pressured King Gobbledegook to confess his treachery, and who supported Torva's decision that her daughter must be permitted to join the Quest? That was all Firenze's doing. He forced the addition of Professor Celine to replace Narcissa.

"Your Quest is very important, not least because it is the only Quest team ever to represent so many magical communities, and now even Muggles. That is just one reason why Narcissa's Quest can never be the equal or replacement for yours. If the result of a successful Quest is peace among all beings that think, then all of our communities must do their part to earn that future. I have spoken to Cantring and Pegasus. They say that you have treated them well and that they are glad they went on your Quest. They know it is important. Pegasus feels she has helped you a lot.

"Cantring feels that she has much more to offer than you have made use of. I want to speak to you about that as well. She has fired arrows in your battles, but she can do much more. She is very smart. She knows our lore. She knows of visions and premonitions. She is our truth teller. She can solve puzzles and mysteries. She is an excellent choice to help you. I fear that your mistrust of Firenze has reflected upon Cantring – perhaps just by accident."

"You may be right about my treatment of Cantring. I should ask her how she can help. I think I naturally would have expected more from Cantring than from Aagog. I was a bit put off by Aagog's appearance initially, but she is so helpful and volunteers to help and just so obviously wanted to be my friend. I think Cantring is just shy and I overlook her because of that. There are so many on the Quest. It's easy to overlook one or two. I'll do better."

"I couldn't miss that you went off with your Quest team and Hogwarts friends, in a corner of the pyramid, rather than speak in front of me," Firenze complained.

"Maybe a little. I didn't want to speak in front of McGonagall and Narcissa. I was unsure of speaking in front of the Goblin Kings. I wasn't ready to tell everything to my Dad before we had hashed things out among ourselves. If I was avoiding sharing with you, that was about fifth on the list of things I was avoiding. I did share with you. I explicitly excluded McGonagall and Narcissa, although I did meet with McGonagall later, I kept an awful lot from her. I assume what she hears, Narcissa will hear."

"Fair enough. It is probably best to skip past recriminations and focus upon building trust. How can I help you?"

"I honestly don't know. At this point, my Quest seems directed by Odin, rather than by you and Cotto and the Black Stone. I'm not sure if that's how it's supposed to be, but it does fit with Durmstrang being the great divide point of the Quest. So, you can best help me to figure out what I can do about Odin. It seems that he tried to kill us. So, if our next stop is to be where we're sent by a guy who wants us dead, he might as well be quick about it and just send us into the center of the sun to mine for ice. I guess you can also help me by searching for the logical flaw in my argument that goes from the point I just mentioned directly to my conclusion that the Quest is already lost."

"I give you more credit than you give yourselves. You've already successfully dealt with extreme trickery and fought your way around some Gods. Odin is a stronger and wiser God than the ones you've prevailed against thus far, but your trick with the circle did get you past the last hazard. You may not have killed him, but you did immobilize him. He now presumably is angry, but that anger is also directed at Frijjo and Vili, so you possibly have some God allies. I think that you are very much where you began your Quest. From the start you knew that you would have to get past multiple Gods. You knew that persuading and cajoling, rather than fighting, were going to be your best approach. You knew from the start that you would have to deal with Odin and with other Gods after him."

"I guess I counted too much on Mafalda being his friend."

"And you still have that advantage. Tell me exactly what happened with Odin. I want all the tiny details you thought too insignificant to report. What caused Odin to attack? Exactly how did he attack you?"

I had to admit that I wasn't present at the start of the attack, so I could offer nothing beyond what the members of my team had described. Beyond opening a path for the Demons, I hadn't seen Odin actually attack any of us. He didn't even have his magical spear, which never missed its target. That was strange. If Odin really wanted me dead, he'd have brought his spear and I would be dead. Perhaps there were just a few in my party whom he wanted to destroy? Perhaps I had violated a rule of the Quest by bringing the Muggles beyond our world? Had I broken a primary rule of magic by transporting non-magical beings by magical means? Even ten years ago, my community would have sent me to Azkaban for life for doing what I did. Dad had encouraged my action as Minister of Magic, but his approval wasn't the same thing as Odin's approval.

Firenze thought these musings were taking me in a useful direction. "If that's the problem, then perhaps leaving the Muggles in our world, a sincere apology, and a plea for mercy and the chance to redeem yourself will suffice to calm Odin."

"But I froze him on an airless not-quite-a-world."

"Certainly not a friendly gesture, but Odin loves a good fight. He knows you feared for your life. He might even view what happened as rollicking good fun. In our various peoples' long history with Odin, it has not been uncommon for him to provoke very serious wars for the sheer joy of it. His encounter with you might be the most fun he's had in years."

Was that even remotely possible? I couldn't possibly know. I knew next to nothing about Odin. I thought I had studied up on him, or at least I had listened when Mafalda and Hermione had tried to explain him to me, but in reality there was so very little that I knew of him. I had mistaken his brother for him.

"Do you think Odin is angry with me, because I mistook Vili for him?"

"Well, Odin is very proud and Vili certainly is a far lesser God than Odin. A major God has prerogatives. Some he'll willingly surrender to a beloved brother, others he will not. To have accepted Vili as Odin could be taken as the same thing as not recognizing Odin's true greatness."

"Oops, and then there is Adrienne…"

"What about Adrienne? I just knew that her disappearance is quite central to your current problem."

I looked to Harry for confirmation that I actually had spoken aloud what I had thought remained inside my own head. Harry had heard it too. This was becoming a problem for me. More accurately, it remained a problem, going back to my vocalized fear that Harry thought of me as a sister. How much could I tell Firenze?

"If I tell you, will it be strictly between the four of us. I don't want my father, or Cotto, or especially the Goblin Kings to know about this. I don't plan to tell the Black Stone, either."

Bane and Firenze both promised, upon the honor of the herd.

I started with "Adrienne is pregnant by Vili," and told the whole tale.

"I feared it was something like that. That is one of the things we correctly warned you about prior to your Quest. Such actions have never aided a Quest and little half-Godlings in our world can cause severe problems. This may also be one of those prerogatives that Odin is unwilling to share with Vili. When you meet Odin, you had best confess this straight away. If Vili and Frijjo know, they will eventually tell Odin and it will be more to your advantage to tell Odin before they do. I won't pretend that this is good. It also provides a reason for Vili and Frijjo to seize Adrienne, hide her away, and kill all of you who know what happened. Rest assured, I don't intend to share this secret. It is a most dangerous secret."

"So, we are hiding from Odin, Vili, and Frijjo," I concluded.

"No. Your goal must be to find Odin as quickly as possible and make peace with him. It is Vili and Frijjo whom you should hide from. Ask Hermione to explain English royal history to you. There are parallels.

"Now that you seem more trusting of me, may I ask where Adrienne is? I'd like to speak to her and get all the details, I'm really not just being a dirty old Centaur, but I need to know if Vili planned on getting her pregnant. The answer to that question may tell us a lot."

"I don't know where she hid. I didn't know how talented Odin is at reading minds, so I asked her not to tell me where she went."

"Actually, Odin is quite good at reading strong thoughts. Luckily for you, his brother is not nearly as good. Which reminds me of another discrepancy in your story – Odin is not known to use Demons to do his dirty work for him. Loki, on the other hand, will ally with anyone or anything, if that gives him even momentary advantage."

He seemed to be finished. I told him that he had given me a lot to think about. He said we would meet again. He gave me one final warning.

"I trust Cotto and I know that your husband and father trust him, but if you don't want to share with him, then you can't tell Catta. You also can't tell Tendra that which you don't want her father to know. Torva is a far superior secret keeper. You might wish to speak to Torva and Tendra, with just you and Hermione present."

"So… I should assume that you know everything that Cantring knows?"

"Not yet, but certainly by tomorrow. It is far better that you told me directly. You should talk to Cotto."

I promised that I would. This had been a longish meeting and I was ready to call it a day. Harry and I still had ample time for recreation.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter Forty-Nine – Important Meetings**

Despite the crisis state my Quest was in, this was sort of a relaxed time. I awoke a little late, in my own bed, with Harry next to me. It was a Stone-message from Hermione that awakened me. She said that she realized Harry and I were out late and felt it only fair that she prepare breakfast. Harry and I should walk over when we felt more awake and were dressed.

Happy and sad thoughts just filled my head. Could any Witch ask for a better friend than Hermione or any Mother for a finer Muse? I was so happy that she was with Ron. This led to a crushing sense of responsibility: I had to keep my brother's wife alive for him. I had to keep all of my Questers alive. Tony had told his soldiers that I was now their commander. Four of them were dead. That was on me. I knew that their guns were close to useless against what we faced. Adrienne was pregnant and a hunted Witch, whose life was on the line. That was also on me. I had allowed her to walk into that trap, so insanely glad that I was lucky enough to be saved from it myself. If not for the help from those I was charged to protect, it would be pregnant me hiding out somewhere. A lot of very good females had sacrificed a lot to follow me on a Quest that was going very badly. Worse, I didn't know what to do to get things back on track. I was not a fit Mother.

As soon as Hermione opened her door to us, we were met by the great smell of the sort of breakfasts that Mom made for us at the Burrow, when we all assembled there before setting off together for Hogwarts. There were griddle cakes, bacon, eggs, coffee, tea, and pumpkin juice. I consumed half of my breakfast, before telling Ron and Hermione about our meeting with the Centaurs. The food partially restored my spirits.

When I relayed Firenze's comments, Hermione told me, "we may have helped Frijjo and Vili to depose Odin. I still think it likeliest that Odin was attacking, but he may have thought we were fighters for Vili. It was Vili who told us to come back with a purple diamond, so he primed us to deactivate that circle. If it was Odin's circle that we dismantled, he would have to consider that a provocation."

"But that was the circle that took over our Black Stone. Whoever controlled that circle was a foe."

"That's certainly how it seems to us. That may not be what Odin thought. He likely didn't even know we were on a Quest. He certainly reactivated the circle. There is no denying that. That doesn't mean he is the one who used the circle to take control of the Black Stone. That could well have been Vili. Vili certainly seems to have very specific goals for us to improve his position. For all we know, Slytherin was to be one of Vili's allies against Odin. Vili isn't strong enough to challenge his brother directly."

"Are you suggesting that Vili initiated our Quest? That seems wrong. The Goblin Kings said we were Mother of the Future and Muse. The Light Guardian confirmed that."

"All true, but that doesn't mean the Light Guardian wanted us to lead any Quest, let alone the one we were sent on. The Light Guardian spoke directly into our heads. Don't you think it would have mentioned a Quest if that was to be our ultimate purpose? It spoke of restoring the Covenant among all the beings who think on our world. It didn't mention anything about restoring a Covenant among the Gods."

"That's true, but isn't the purpose of the Mother and Muse to lead the Quest?"

"No, that's not what the Light Guardian said. My research of the ancient memories shows that many Mothers never led a Quest. Those Mothers did what we plan to do in seeking peace among all thinking creatures and renewing the Covenant. Those are the basic duties of Mother and Muse. It is true that throughout our history Witches have declared themselves to be the Mother and have set out on a Quest to prove their claim. Those without at least a prophesy to support their claim invariably failed in their Quest. I think Narcissa's Quest is doomed. I suspect our Quest was never properly authorized."

"There was a vision."

"To a new Goblin King, whom we're not sure we trust. He said that his Master spoke to him. He never said the Goblin Master ordered up a Quest. That came later, when he conveniently had a major vision. King Goblanze told us that prophetic visions were extremely rare among Goblins. King Gobbledegook badly wanted to have a prophetic vision. Vili may have taken advantage of that desire and planted the seed of that prophesy to suit his own scheme. I fear that we have been seriously manipulated to help Vili overthrow Odin and take control of Asgard."

"I think I understand. So, that means the best thing we can do is to abandon this phony Quest and get on with our lives."

"I'd rather put things right with Odin, if we can do that. Once we learn a little more and develop a plan which could work, I'm willing to return to Asgard. I'm not at all sure that we must journey to BeyondWorld, but I will also continue to research what we must do to succeed in BeyondWorld. I also wish I could have a long talk with Adrienne and get answers to some very detailed questions."

"I agree. I think we need to talk to Victoria, then Torva and Tendra. Then we can talk to the whole group. Perhaps more communing with the Stone would help."

"Let's start with Tendra and her mother. She's back home, so we'll have to stop in at Gringotts. That's less than ideal. I'd like to reach out to them without King Gobbledegoo knowing about it."

"Perhaps another Quester could visit Tendra. Who was closest to her?"

"I think we were. Perhaps Catta was her next closest friend. I guess Cotto and Catta have to be our first stop."

"Shall I summon Cotto?" my husband asked me.

I looked to Hermione and Ron for approval. They agreed.

Cotto was uncharacteristically blunt: "Humans cannot understand Goblins. You think Goblanze is your friend and Gobbledegook is the enemy. This is wrong. Goblanze is cunning and knows how to trick you and guide you with flattering words. Goblanze has always been one-hundred-percent for Goblanze. Gobbledegook be a real friend who tries to help. He is not smooth and he is impetuous. He gets idea and he act without planning, but he try to do good. He want to improve Goblins. You just need to know that he can be wrong."

"He stole our supplies."

"That did no harm. That be a dumb thing, but he knew it do no harm. You cannot know how hard it be for Tendra to be a Goblin hero. Goblins have very much discrimination. If you want peace with Goblins, you must help King Gobbledegook."

I explained that we needed Catta's help to arrange for us to meet with Tendra and Torva.

"Fine, I ask Catta to help, but you also must talk to King."

I agreed that we would do that. Given what Cotto had already said, I viewed the next topic as awkward.

"I do understand your point about King Gobbledegook's good intentions, but we still have a big problem with him and the Quest. It is because of him and his vision that we are on a Quest – the Light Guardian didn't mention it. A lot of the early problems we had were because of King Gobbledegook's views on what a Quest must look like. Isn't he manipulating us to help him make the changes he thinks are necessary in Goblin society? When the Light Guardian spoke directly to us, it never mentioned a Quest. We think that is most odd. We worry that this Quest was never supposed to happen, and that King Gobbledegook was just far to anxious to have an important valid prophecy."

"It is odd. Maybe Quest not needed. It is part of very old legend. Elves have heard of legend, but it is mostly remembered by Centaurs and the unusual Goblin, like King Gobbledegook, who studies old legends. Some of Quest rules come from Gobbledegook, most from Black Stone. It is wrong to blame Gobbledegook for all that happen to you. Has Tendra been a good companion on your Quest?"

"Yes, she has. I'm also worried that I haven't, I was going to say trusted, but that isn't the right word, let's say I don't understand the capabilities of Tendra, or even Catta, well enough to make full use of their talents or to give them the level of responsible assignments that they deserve. I lean too heavily on those like Barb and Cho, who've fought alongside me before and who use magic that is familiar to me. I know that makes me a poor Quest leader."

"Not poor leader – perhaps a little blind. It is good that you see problem now. You have learned to trust wands too much. Elf magic is very strong. Catta know you are good friend to Elves and she say you treat her well. She thinks she can do more."

Where had I heard that before? If the Centaurs also said it, I definitely had to do better.

"What should I be asking Catta to do? I'd feel more comfortable if it were Baal by my side, because I know more about his skills."

"Catta is as smart and skilled as Baal. I teach her. Baal know more Wizard magic. Catta know more Elf magic. Catta is very brave and very loyal. She can apparate where you cannot. She not know magic that kills, but she can do very strong push-away. Same way you summon Elf, you can think complicated thoughts at Elf, even far away. You must practice with my Catta. Catta very good steal things and hide things with magic. Catta says you make very bad food on Quest. She can make Hogwarts banquet for you."

Cotto knew how to manipulate me, but he was right.

Catta was summoned. She practiced trading thoughts with Hermione and me. She was indeed quite talented. I couldn't communicate with her as well as I did with Harry, but there wasn't all that much difference. I sent her on the errand to invite Tendra and Torva to Hogwarts, telling her that she should try to communicate with me from there. She reached me and understood what I 'spoke' back to her, which was that we would meet in the library.

Tendra and Torva seemed a little on edge. Torva admitted that they had 'just snuck away, and we can't stay long. We certainly can't drink sherry with you."

Given the time urgency, I was more brusque than I had intended, just diving right in and asking what I needed to know.

"My father is a very good Goblin," Tendra assured me, as her mother nodded assent.

She had very definite ideas about how she could be of more help. "I've watched Hermione and Cho hide your secret devices in stones. I could do this much faster and nobody would ever know. I can see where the stone hides secrets. I can apparate while I fight with my sword. I can do a little magical fighting."

Okay, that could help.

"Mainly, I can think. You don't ask me enough what I think. I can solve problems."

Fair enough, and certainly not a good reflection upon me and my biases. Now to the hard part. Was the prophecy her father told of us real? Was this a valid Quest?

"Father is very excited. I know he believes his vision is real and that we must Quest, not just for Goblin females, but for everyone. I take very great risk. Mother already gives me up for dead or banished. This is important. I believe, you must continue to believe. We cannot win if you don't believe."

She seemed to have a stouter heart than I. Since she was so free with her opinions, I asked her what she thought about the Muggle soldiers joining us.

"They are beings who think, are they not? The Covenant is also for them. It is proper that they fight with us. You need to train them to fight better. They can't fight with magic. They must have sword. They are very brave. They not trust you at first. Now they trust you."

I couldn't disagree with any of this. It seemed my team was eager to continue the struggle. I just nodded back to Tendra.

She concluded by saying, "You must talk to my father. I show you what I can do."

She reached out, grabbing my left hand and Hermione's right. Before I could blink, we were standing in her parents' sitting room. That was a smoother trip than I could have managed. I doubt I could have apparated past whatever magical barriers her parents had erected. She had apparated us through the Hogwarts barrier. Well, Harry and Ron would have to find a way to amuse themselves in our absence. It's not as if I had planned to abandon them.

We could drink port with them in their own home. We also could eat cinnamon-coated almonds. We chatted for an hour before King Gobbledegook arrived. Mainly Torva skipped back-and-forth among her pride in Tendra's Quest adventures, her fear for Tendra's safety and her desire that I look after her daughter while not keeping her out of the fight, and worried musings about how she could explain our presence to her husband.

When King Gobbledegook arrived, Torva had obviously chosen her course of action, because she instantly told him, "I'm glad you're not late, my darling. Tendra told me that Ginny and Hermione are having second thoughts about the Quest. I told Tendra that she must bring them here, so that you can talk to them about the extreme importance of staying on the Quest path."

The King took some port, before he spoke. He also gave a searching look at each of us. "Yes, it has been a difficult beginning for your Quest. You are at Durmstrang – the point of decision. I know an angry Odin is very frightening, but it is important that you persevere. I know I don't risk myself, but I do risk my precious Tendra. Believe me, this is worth the risk. Now… tell me, what are your real concerns. I know you don't shrink from danger."

I told him. He was sorry that his stupid theft had shaken our confidence in him. He was certain that his prophecy was real and valid. He had studied enough about ancient Goblin legend to know that some Goblins did have valid prophetic dreams, and he knew that his dream had all the signs of a valid prophecy. He was sorry that he hadn't explained better. He had forgotten that the Master had taught us to read and speak Goblin-speak. He must share his treasures with us. They would surely convince us of the validity of both his prophecy and our Quest.

King Gobbledegook led us past the sleeping rooms to the farthest room in his home. It had no windows to the beautiful street outside the home, but it was a very beautifully crafted room. It had a lot of carved wood on the walls, a wood floor, a very old wooden desk and chair, and along two walls the sort of wood and crystal display cases I had first seen in the Peverell storage room. The third wall was floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with quite old looking, hide-bound books. I don't know why, but I was very surprised that the king had such a passion for reading.

He led us to the longest display cabinet – the one that occupied the entirety of the wall opposite the door.

"These are my most precious treasures, apart from my children, of course. This particular scroll tells the tale of the Quest as it existed in ancient days – as it existed in a time when Goblins Quested, male and female together."

He put on a pair of cloth gloves, handing gloves to Hermione and me. "One must not touch the scrolls with bare hands. That would damage them and they are thousands of years old. I fill the cabinets with a special gas and keep this room darkened, so that these scrolls may survive. They are wisdom from our ancients."

He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the cabinet, lifting its cover and locking it upright. He extracted the center scroll, asking Hermione to close the cabinet. When she had done so, he unrolled the scroll on the crystal top, asking me to hold down one end as he secured the other. The scroll was almost six feet long. Unlike the scrolls I wrote as Hogwarts assignments, this one was written on lengthwise, right-to-left, in the traditional Goblin style.

It was tough going for me, but Hermione was whizzing through it. I could make out that the scroll told the tale of an ancient Quest led by the Goblin King and the six best Goblin maidens, as determined in the same sort of artistic challenge that led up to the Goblins' election of a new king. The winner of that contest, which I now realized included tests of magic and oration, as well as visual art and music, was designated as Muse. She not only served as second-in-charge and chief advisor on the Quest, but she became the wife of the king.

"This is the poem you told us," Hermione was so excited, she practically squealed. She pointed at the spot, near the end of the scroll, where the poem began. I had just read enough to conclude that it likely was the poem in question, when King Gobbledegook took my nod as a sign that I had finished the scroll. He re-rolled it in my direction and returned it to the case.

There were two other scrolls in the cabinet. He removed them both, handing one to Hermione. I closed the cabinet and he unrolled his scroll upon its top. This one was only three-feet long. It seemed newer than the prior scroll. The king confirmed this thought.

"This scroll is only a little more than two-thousand years old. It is past the time of Goblin Quests. It describes a Quest by Witches. I could tell that the scroll began with the same poem, although an excited Hermione exclaimed "this version of the poem is slightly different. It is exactly what you told us."

King Gobbledegook nodded proudly, knowing that Hermione took this as verification of his Quest tale. I read all the way to the end this time. The Quest in question was led by the daughter-protégé of the chief priestess of the time. Her mother was her Muse. The scroll proclaimed the great bravery of mother, daughter, and their five assistants. It described the same slots I had been required to fill, with my assistants. This Quest had been abandoned at what sounded like the site of today's Durmstrang circle. The Muse had been killed by a God. Another Quester had been kidnapped into marriage to another God. There was no more detail. A nodded that I had read the whole thing. The king rolled it up and took the third scroll from Hermione. This conflicted with what someone had told me about the Muse always surviving the Quest. Or was it almost always. I felt more worried about Hermione.

This scroll was written in much larger lettering than either of the other two. It was four feet long, but had fewer words than either of the others. It did not include the poem. It appeared to be a guide on the required moral character of those who dared to Quest. Bravery, obedience to tradition and the Gods, selflessness, empathy for all creatures that think, piety, and a love of learning were listed as requirements. The second half basically said those who could not tolerate hardship need not apply. It said this three separate ways. I could tell where King Gobbledegook had gotten some of his ideas. I nodded that I was finished. The king restored the scroll to its case and locked the case.

"I'll replace the gas after you leave. I have one more scroll to show you. It is my oldest. It describes what it calls the 'Grandest Quest'. It's over here."

He led us to a shorter cabinet, only a little over three feet wide. The crystal cover had a furry hide draped across it. The king removed this covering and told us "you may use a 'lumos' just barely bright enough for you to read. This scroll is extremely fragile. I keep it unrolled. It has split into three pieces. My grandfather saved this scroll from its royal storage chamber, when a prior king would destroy it as heresy against the Goblin Master. He paid with his life for that truly inspired act of disobedience. He was tortured, as was my father, but he did not reveal what he had done with this scroll. The king's torturer was a little too vigorous and my grandfather a little to weak. He died without revealing his secret.

"After that king died, my father searched for the scroll. He searched for years, but never found it. I found it, while assisting King Goblanze. It was hidden within a false top of a wooden desk, in a room at Gringotts which my grandfather supposedly did not have access to. Grandfather was a wise and wily old Goblin. But, please, have a look"

Hermione and I drew our wands and whispered 'lumos'. It seemed that a respectful whisper was called for. The scroll was less than three feet long. It was red metallic ink on parchment. The parchment was dark brown and the ink barely visible. The Goblin-speak was more archaic than that which the Light Guardian had taught me. I made out about half the words. Fortunately the writing was large, with thick lines, or I doubt I could have made it out. I stopped straining my mind, when Hermione began to translate aloud.

"The Grand Quest of all the creatures who think will be needed to restore peace forever. It will be the most hazardous of Quests and its participants must be both brave and holy scholars. The Witch who leads it and her Muse shall be remembered always, as will all who participate. They shall have entry to all the most holy places of all the Gods. None shall deny them help when they ask it. This is important!"

"Now you see why you must continue with your Quest," the king told us. "I know that you and my Tendra will not fail all of us. Now, be off and do what you know that you must do."

"I don't want to commit heresy," Hermione said very meekly, "but could I have the barest corner from each of those scrolls, so that Uncle Reg can tell me how old they are. It may be very important."

The king looked angry for a few seconds, then his face cleared. He gave Hermione a sort-of smile telling her, "you are too interested in facts. Faith is more important, but I must deal with the material presented to me. Please be very careful. I too was interested in the age, but felt I dared not desecrate the scrolls. You are the Muse. If your Mother blesses this act, I will not stop you."

I felt very much on the spot as I gave Hermione permission to go ahead. I put my hand on the king's shoulder, telling him "I'm sorry, it must be done. It will eliminate doubt. I have been convinced by what I have seen here, but I have others whom I must convince to allow the Quest to continue."

The king produced a very small set of Goblin-metal scissors. I couldn't bear to think in terms of Odin-silver, standing in the king's shrine room. Hermione worked quickly, treating the scrolls with infinite gentleness and cutting off barely visible pieces, none of which were close to written areas.

Tendra returned us to Hogwarts. Harry and Ron had found Victoria and brought her to the the library while we were away. Hermione said she and Ron must visit Uncle Reg and that I should talk to Victoria on my own.

I thanked Victoria for not allowing McGonagall into the control landing and confessed that McGonagall had convinced me to allow her access to the landing for the single purpose of safe escape. I also explained the limited access I had afforded McGonagall to the Black Stone. I asked Victoria why she had been willing to defy McGonagall and resign from the Quest.

"I didn't think it was my place to grant access to Professor McGonagall. I don't object to you giving her access. You are our rightful custodian of the Stone and its pyramid. I was willing to resign because I felt Professor McGonagall was being high-handed in her supposed capacity as Muse. I might have thought longer about not opening the portal if Narcissa, as Quest leader, had asked me. I don't like Narcissa at all, although I recognize in her a fellow victim of the male Malfoys. I credit her with wanting to make Draco into something other than the typical Malfoy male. That's why I was willing to sign onto her Quest. I think she does need me. Professor McGonagall can be very over-powering in a mental way. She means well, but I don't enjoy seeing Narcissa being quite that thoroughly dominated yet again. If you say that I should return to that Quest, I will, although I don't see Narcissa as a legitimate Mother of the Future."

"I'll think about it," I told her. "My answer may be yes. I'd appreciate it if you could hang around Hogwarts for a few days. I guess less than that, they are supposed to depart tomorrow."

"Day after," she corrected me. "Yes, I'll stay. I'd like to help you, if you'll permit me to do so."

I told her that there would be a very large meeting tomorrow and that she was very welcome to attend and share her thoughts.

"Perhaps we should visit Draco. I guess we'll have to wait for Hermione to return, so we have a second truth teller."

"I can fill that role for you," Victoria told me. "It's a common skill among priestesses."

I was surprised to hear "I can too" from my left elbow. I hadn't realized that Tendra was still with us.

"I'll come with you," Harry insisted, "just in case you need auror protection."

Draco told me that his mother was not at Malfoy Manor and that she wasn't necessarily welcome there as long as she was with McGonagall, and McGonagall thought that being in Narcissa's presence gave her license to invade his household.

I told him that I was considering providing some help to his mother's Quest even though I refused to accept her as a legitimate Mother.

"I don't accept her as much of a mother either," Draco told me. "I think mother is determined to do this, although McGonagall has pushed hard to get her to this point. I really think mother half expects to die and isn't all that concerned about that prospect. I talked to her after I last saw you. She convinced me that she does want to do good with her Quest thing. I can't really encourage you to help her, but I won't strongly discourage you. You understand McGonagall better than I do, and mother almost as well as I do. If you think helping her makes sense…"

"I know. I really don't know if it makes sense. The biggest thing I can do to help her is to ask Victoria to re-join her Quest. I guess I am willing to go that far. Really, the most helpful thing I could do would be to transfer Jaden to your mother's Quest. There apparently is precedent for mother-daughter Quests. Jaden would have to replace McGonagall as Muse. It likely also means Jaden will die. I don't want to be quite that helpful. It's a really tough decision. It's very important that a Quest succeeds. Mine isn't going super well."

"You and Hermione are still alive. You'll make it work. You always do."


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter Fifty – Is It Safe To Travel With a Big Mother?**

In Hermione's absence, I decided that we knew enough to re-assemble the Quest team. Following the practice of Dumbledore's army, I had issued magical galleons to each team member, including Captain Davies and Commander Harkwright. When I activated my galleon, they all knew to assemble at Hogwarts. For the British soldiers, that meant going to the Leaky Cauldron, where they would be picked up by Barb. I sent the signal.

The first arrival was Hermione, with Ron. She had enhanced the charm on our galleons to allow her to apparate exactly to my position. She joined me in my kitchen, as I was finishing a last bite of left-over curry, before making my own trip to Hogwarts.

"What's wrong? You seem fine, is it Ron or Harry?"

After I assured her that all was well and that I just felt we had to get moving, before the defenders of Asgard had the chance to put their affairs fully back in order, she calmed and then bubbled over with excitement.

"I just knew it! It was all too pat. Uncle Reg tells me that the parchment describing the Witch Quest is between twenty-three and twenty-five hundred years old, but… not the others. That really old parchment that fell into three pieces? It's only eight-hundred to eight hundred-and-fifty years old."

"At least it's too old to have been made by King Gobbledegook or his father or grandfather," I said with relief. I didn't want to think that the King had forged this parchment to manipulate me. Let him be a poor dupe along with Hermione and me. Well, just me, Hermione apparently had unvoiced suspicions from the start.

"Maybe, but not necessarily true," Hermione told me. Forgers often use the oldest parchment easily at hand, when they want to create a fake manuscript. I would have thought the Gobbledegooks could have found something older, but perhaps they only had a couple really old parchments to work from. Which brings me to the scroll describing the Goblin Quest- it's thirteen-hundred-and-twenty to fourteen-hundred-and-ten years old. The scroll describing the proper character of Questers is twelve-hundred to twelve-hundred-and-sixty years old. They're all very well done frauds."

"Oh!" I gasped. After a moment's thought, I told Hermione "so we know that those parchments can't be taken as useful guides to our Quest. The perhaps more important question that isn't answered is whether or not the king knows that his parchments are phony. You say that your Uncle Reg can't tell how long ago the parchments were actually faked. That brings us back to relying upon our truth teller skills. I didn't detect any lies, when the king spoke to us, although I'm not at all sure that I can read a Goblin."

"Me neither, on both counts. Even if King Gobbledegook means well, he is giving us unreliable information. Possibly he is actively manipulating us for his own purposes. Would the Light Guardian have supported him, if he was creating this massive a fraud? I don't think so. Nor do I think he could have whipped out those phonies since our encounter in the Sacred Cavern."

"Of course he could!" Ron was indignant. "He got his job by being a great artist. A great artist who knows magic. You created a perfect fake purple diamond. Ask yourself, how long would it take the two of you, or Professor Celine to create all those fakes? I think less than a month."

"Ron is right," Hermione admitted. "We have no evidence that lets King Gobbledegook off the hook."

Harry also agreed, telling me in a slightly accusatory way: "your Dad keeps telling me that he needs me to be his old suspicious-of-everyone-Harry, so that I don't get duped by villains. I think you may have become too trusting. I'll feel more confident of your safety if you become more skeptical of those who haven't proven beyond a doubt that they are trustworthy. Everything we've learned of Quests says that you should expect danger and treachery from every corner. I know you want allies, but I'm not at all sure that you can reliably identify them. I've been worried for a while, as has your Dad, that we have just thrown open too many secrets to the British government. Now you seem to be trusting McGonagall again."

This stung enough and seemed unfair enough, that I blurted "I'm not the one who overpaid for a sword that Hogwarts already owned or who followed McGonagall around like a little kitten for months after we got together, even when I had very good reason to believe she wanted to and could drive us apart."

As Harry gave me the look, I realized that I had no idea where all of that had spewed from. I was frustrated. My Quest was coming apart. Hermione had just blown my latest life boat to smithereens.

"I know I was very over-trusting after the Battle of Hogwarts," Harry told me. "I know that I treated McGonagall as a replacement Dumbledore. I was a mess and she took advantage to manipulate me. I was hurting so badly – I needed someone to guide me, to relieve some of the burden of all the children who had died fighting with me. I was a fraud. The famous Harry Potter – famous for lying helplessly in my mother's arms as she died saving me. I knew I was no hero. I knew that you loved me and that Ron and Hermione and Neville were my friends, but I needed the approval of an older Witch or Wizard. I needed a lot of approving elders telling me that while I may have lived most of my life as a fraud who was famous in place of his heroine mother, that I was an alright Wizard. I just automatically trusted those who could boost me back up and allow me to think of myself as a good person. That's part of what your Dad referred to about me needing to be overly-suspicious to be safe and effective. The same goes for you. I'm just saying that you need to be a little wary of those who appear to willing to help you. You re-warming to McGonagall is a surprise. I thought we were long past your thinking that she or anybody could drive us apart."

"I truly am, Harry. I'm frustrated. I didn't need you piling on then to pound me for over-trusting King Gobbledegook. I'm well aware of the significance of the correct age of the scrolls. Trust me, I'm in need of boosting, not tearing down at the moment. I am sorry that I lashed out at you."

"I'm sorry." Harry gave me a hug.

"We'd better get to Hogwarts," Ron suggested. "Your team is probably already there. It would be best if you and Harry weren't obviously fighting."

"I am sorry." Harry repeated.

"So am I." I gave Harry a kiss and apparated us to the Great Hall.

The gang, including all the Keeprs, was already there in the Great Hall and so was McGonagall. I saw Draco, who whispered to me "I'm Barb's new Keeper."

I asked McGonagall if she could surrender her professor perquisites for a few minutes and allow us to have the room. I told her she probably could return and join the meeting in fifteen minutes, but I had to get the approval of the team. I said that if she waited in the library, I would send my Patronus if the team agreed to include her in the meeting. She smiled and thanked me as she promptly left the room. Harry gave me the look again for the second time in fifteen minutes.

I told Harry, "despite your concerns, I do feel that we need to include McGonagall, although we'll discuss it with the whole team, before I send my Patronus. Now we need to talk to Torva and Tendra."

Harry didn't look pleased, but he knew that we needed to meet with the Gobbledegook family. I collected Torva and Tendra and steered them to a corner, where we could talk privately. Hermione gave them the bad news about the age of the scrolls.

"I know that my husband totally believes in the age and authenticity of those scrolls. He's had some of them as long as I've known him and he found his grandfather's scroll twenty years ago. He practically built his life around them. His father died a year before he found that last scroll. They represent family to him. They are his obsession and why he is so interested in Goblin legend. He is not intentionally deceiving you.

"From the family stories, I'm also very sure that his grandfather believed that last scroll was real. He died rather than surrender it. The scrolls do agree with oral legends known to many Goblins. I understand that an ancient oral legend is less impressive than millennia-old scrolls. Please remember, even the old Muggle legends of dragons are correct. Being oral tradition doesn't make something wrong. Treat the information on the scrolls however you think is appropriate, just don't tell my husband what you learned. It might kill him. It would at least make him profoundly sad for long enough to be extremely uncomfortable for me. It's something that he has to be able to continue to believe in. It's that important to him. He is a very good Goblin and he does want to help you."

I agreed to say nothing to the king and we all returned to the larger group. Hermione led the summary of what we had learned. She went very light on the scrolls, just briefly saying that their authenticity was uncertain and quickly summarizing the contents. The Gobbledegooks seemed very relieved. My comments on why I wanted to invite McGonagall to the rest of the meeting were far more contentious. I realized my arguments were scattered and perhaps more humanitarian than tactically sound.

"She's determined to Quest with Narcissa. We might be able to assist each other. I am determined that we will finish our Quest, so I don't want to turn down even the possibility of help from her. I don't want her to die or lead all of those young Witches to their deaths, even if they are Slytherins. I think we have a far better chance of success on our Quest than she does on hers, but why throw away any increased odds for our communities to gain what they need from a successful Quest? I think she really does mean well. She thinks this is important and can't stand to be left out. There is less trouble from her if we include her."

"No!" My brother shouted his objection. "Dad trusted her with an outing to cheer Narcissa and we all know how that ended. She has proven that she isn't trust-worthy. I'm not saying she doesn't mean well, but she breaks her promises and goes entirely by her own judgment. Her judgment isn't very good"

"That outing was also a Shacklebolt trap," Hermione reminded Ron.

"I've trusted her more than you have," Harry told me. "She has done some bad things, but she mainly blundered into them by trusting her Sisterhood too much.

"There's a bigger problem than the one Ron mentioned. I'm almost willing to trust McGonagall, if you lay down rules and keep her on a short leash, but I'm not at all willing to trust Narcissa. In a day they leave on their own Quest. A day after that Narcissa will know everything we tell McGonagall. A day after that Narcissa will think of a way to use that information to help herself and to harm you. I don't like it – at all!"

"We can swear her to secrecy. We can spell her to secrecy," Cho suggested. "Her mind's not what it once was, but she can still be very insightful. I think we can gain as much as we risk by including her."

"My Prime Minister hates her, and for very good reason," Captain Davies announced.

"I don't like her either, but I don't see her as a traitor," Cissy said. "We can tell if she lies. If we tell her what we know, and what we plan to do – I'm assuming we will go back to Asgard, then she comes with us. That stops her blabbing until it really doesn't matter if she blabs. She'll just have to postpone her Quest. I think that's what Ginny wants, anyway.

"That's certainly what I want," Draco told me. "I don't want Astoria to go on that Quest. Mother doesn't like her and will find a way for her not to return alive. Astoria was very clear that I had better not try to forbid her to go. I know that will just increase her determination. Astoria doesn't know my mother as I do."

Neville supported me. "Professor McGonagall really does have a good heart and wouldn't purposely betray you into danger. I don't think she actually trusts Narcissa, although I don't understand why she is so determined to Quest. I think she needs to feel important again and to be influencing events. If you stay in a position to guide her, she is less likely to stumble into some action which harms you."

We voted. Harry, Ron, my two soldiers, and Jaden voted to exclude McGonagall. I sent my Patronus to fetch her.

I gave her the conditions: she must keep our secrets; to make sure she kept the biggest ones she must delay her Quest and come with us on our next mission; she was a subordinate on this mission; and if we felt it necessary we would bind her mind with spells, so that she couldn't betray us.

"Fine, I agree to all of that. Impose an Unbreakable Vow that I not betray you or your secrets, if that will make you feel better about me. These are important times. I must do what I can to help, before my body and mind fail me. I won't be a burden. I can still hold my own in a fight, and my decisions are usually correct."

I told her that an Unbreakable Vow would not be necessary. Harry and Ron insisted that it was very necessary. They knew they couldn't win this one, but stood firm. Almost as if to avoid a quarrel, McGonagall demanded the vow, at once.

She was bound to me by Unbreakable Vow. She would betray neither me nor my secrets, she would follow my orders, she would work for the success of the upcoming mission and my Quest.

I was surprised that she took the oath. I was further surprised that it seemed a matter of no importance to her. When the oath was finalized, she told us "now that we've dispatched that matter, there is much to be done. Please tell me what you know and what you and I must do."

We told her all that had happened, including a little more of the scrolls than Torva was happy with. This may seem a big waste of time, but I've learned that each retelling of a complex story uncovers more hidden minor details and allows me to understand better. It's just how I think. I told McGonagall that we would meet with the bigger group, finalize a plan, and immediately move into Asgard in search of Odin. Hermione said we were going to take Muggle bombs.

McGonagall surpassed even Captain Davies in her approval of taking Muggle bombs, even agreeing that the big mother of a bomb made sense, if we were going up against an angry or duplicitous God.

We agreed that we would leave it to Firenze to inform Narcissa and the others that their Quest would be delayed at least a week. By his pleased expression, I knew that Draco expected that Quest to be delayed permanently.

We worked on a specific plan to present to Dad and Tony. Hermione said that we would sabotage both of the White Columns at Valaskjalf as well as the little circle that powered Odin's foundry. We would have other ways, besides the monolith, of activating our explosive devices. We would all carry swords. Hermione had an elaborate plan to increase the magic of our swords, including exposure to magical circles and wiping them with spider and basilisk venom. As I looked surprised, Hermione told me: "I assumed that Harry had mentioned it to you. He, Ron, and Hagrid caught four no-longer-quite-so-young juvenile basilisks. They harvested their venom gland and magically sealed their eyes. The basilisks are safe enough and we have enough venom for a dozen swords."

That was an unexpected bonus.

Cho wanted to explore the lake beneath the well in Odin's observatory. "If Odin gained knowledge from that well, it may still hold secrets. It may hold Odin's body on the shore of that underground lake. Whether Vili, Odin, or one of the Valkyries is a baddy, that lake is a path into BeyondWorld. It's worthy of exploration for that reason alone."

"My father can supply us gear for that exploration," Hermione suggested. "I think we also must talk to Tony's expert on Odin mythology. He may give us some additions to our strategy."

"I'll arrange for all the gear we'll need," Commander Harkwright promised. "I can also get you the makings for your bombs."

We managed to assemble the full group within an hour. King Gobbledegook was to be included. Before he arrived Torva pleaded "no mention of the scrolls. If my husband brings them up, be noncommittal."

I agreed. The scrolls weren't mentioned. We talked solely about our plan to enter Asgard and how we would fight, if we had to. Hermione's plan was simple. World-walk from the Durmstrang White Column to its twin inside Valskjalf. Check if any of the Gods were at home. If they were, we'd explain that we were concerned about Odin and wished to help search for him. We'd learn what we could. If ordered to leave, we'd leave. If attacked, we'd unload curses and bombs to cover our retreat back to the White Column and world-walk back home.

If we didn't encounter any Gods, we'd install our explosive tricks: small bombs to destroy the White Columns and the magical circle, and the big mothers for the silver palace and forge. As soon as this was done, we'd head to the observatory to explore the well. If we had to destroy the White Columns, we'd apparate to the red-grass portal of our Black Stone pyramid's twin on Asgard. It sounded so simple, but so much could go wrong.

Tony wanted to know "if you have to world-walk into Asgard, how can you possibly carry what you call the big mother bombs."

Hermione showed him the large carry bag she had added to her collection. It opened to three feet wide. "They have to fit through this opening. That's not quite as big a bomb as Lord Montaigne had at his disposal, but it will have to do. I can load as many explosive bricks in here as we might need."

She pointed to our pile of supplies, telling Tony "I have another half dozen of these large carrying bags. We'll be able to load all of our gear into them."

"What happens if a bomb goes off inside your bag?" Tony seemed truly worried.

"Don't worry, I won't arm them until right before we put them in place. I have no idea what would happen if a bomb went off in my bag. I'm not stupid enough to test that. I'm sure it would destroy a lot of our equipment and supplies."

"I wasn't so much concerned about mission safety as general security in my community. What if you carried a big mother bomb into a government building and set it off? Would your magical bag protect the occupants of the building?"

"I don't know. If I left the top of the bag open, almost certainly not. Don't worry, I'm not the sort of person who goes around blowing up your government buildings. I'm not a Death Eater."

Tony looked only marginally less worried. I thought Hermione had given too much of an explanation.

Tony said his soldiers would arrive in the morning with all the equipment we needed. Knowing that I didn't want McGonagall wandering about or communicating with Narcissa, I told the full team that we would have to camp on the pyramid floor overnight.

I explained to Dad, "there is just too much chance that someone will spot us if we go above ground. Surprise is very important to this mission."

I had no choice but to have Captain Davies and Commander Harkwright leave to collect the supplies we needed. Harry went with them, to provide apparation services. He was also to bring back Professor Arlen Sturluson of Oxford, who was the Norse Mythology scholar whom Uncle Reg had recruited for Hermione and Tony. Hermione suggested that Harry also bring back Uncle Reg, so that Professor Sturluson could have a piece of normality to cling to during his stay with us.

As was generally the case, when we slept in caverns during the Quest, my team spent the time after dinner chatting in small groups, scattered across the pyramid floor. As was frequently the case, Hermione and I sat together in our chairs, a small table in front of us holding strong, black coffee and quite potent Witch sherry. As was rapidly becoming customary, Aagog lay curled up on my ankles, listening as Hermione and I refined our plans, and sometimes volunteering her special skills to advance the mission. Hermione was describing the specialized equipment that Commander Harkwright would supply for exploration of the underground lake, when Aagog informed us that she should be the first to explore the well.

"I can easily climb down and up the stones. I can see in the dim. I can smell if anyone hide in cave. They not see me in dim. I move fast in shadow."

I was accepting Aagog's most reasonable offer, when I noticed motion to my side and saw Tony advancing, with Stewart carrying a chair for him. Tony apologized for talking earlier as if he suspected Hermione and me of being terrorist suicide bombers.

"I hadn't really encountered Hermione's bag before. It's like the Tardis. Really, it takes the term 'suitcase bomb' to a whole new level. In today's non-traditional warfare, I think a Witch and her bag might be the ultimate weapon, assuming the bag is as well-stocked as yours is about to be.

"Double apologies – I know that the linking of your skills to Britain's military ambitions is the thing you most fear. I promise not to press the issue and I most definitely have not spread about what I've learned from you. Stewart and the soldiers I chose to aid your Quest, were chosen as much for discretion and broad-minded attitude as for their fighting skill. I know that Captain Davies can be off-putting, but I also know that she likes you. I understand that you wince when I venture onto these topics.

"It's such a big part of my job to protect against terrorism. You're different enough, that I must remind myself that you are both very good people. So is Ginny's father. Having seen Voldemort, it is all too obvious that big trouble can come from your community. Voldemort did it without using our technology. I want you and your people to gradually fully integrate into our community, but it is scary. I know, from Harry's tales of chasing Thicknesse and Delores Umbridge, that your community still harbors violent criminals. Your father is great, but I didn't find Minister Scrimgouer to be at all responsible."

I wasn't pleased that Tony had to keep reminding himself that Hermione and I were good people – it spoke to a level of basic distrust that would be very hard to overcome. I feared that Tony was far more accepting than most Muggle leaders would be. How to reassure him?

"The Wizarding world was basically peaceful and carefully tucked into itself for centuries," I told him. "Voldemort was a major upset. We are still clearing up the lingering fragments of Voldemort's Death Eaters."

"But there was Bruce and now there is Salazar Slytherin, whom I've heard some of you describe as the original, and worse than Voldemort."

"All true. I certainly shared your fear when I first learned that the remaining Death Eaters were using your technology. Slytherin is scary, but we've greatly diminished him, at least for now. I'm sure my Dad will accept your help in tracking him down and finishing him off. All you say is just more proof of why this Quest must be a success. Magical imbalances fuel dark magic and crazy Wizards like Voldemort, Bruce, and, I'm quite certain, Slytherin. You should know that many of the younger Witches and Wizards want to integrate into normal Britain, though I can't speak for the Slytherin Witches on Narcissa's Quest. If the younger Witches and Wizards do integrate into the larger British society, the tensions between our communities will diminish."

"I agree that will happen in time. However, it may be a bumpy and violent road between now and then. Acceptance of what you call the Muggle-born was the first baby step toward integration. That is what fueled support for Voldemort. Your pure-bloods will not give up easily."

"I'm purportedly a pure-blood," I told Tony. "I think Neville is not that far from being able to prove that our pure-bloods are not all that pure of blood, and that the Muggle-born are the bastard children of our aristocrats."

"In the end, it's a class thing, not a blood thing," Hermione assured Tony. "Pure-bloodedness is just a convenient excuse."

"Might I confess my less than total comfort with your efforts to re-establish your old religions. That will be just one new/old thing to divide us. The biggest thing that separates my Pakistani-born Britons from the rest of us is not skin color, their blood if you will, it is their religion."

"As a Muggle-born, I must label that B.S." Hermione told him. "The Jamaican Brits are Christian and they are separate."

"True, but we've had way to many religious wars among Christians in our country. I take your point, blood matters greatly in my community, as well. Even after all these years and all our scholarship and education, humans remain tribal at base. Even for a very old nation like ours, 'British' often is not the most basic tribe of choice."

Tony's philosophical musings were interrupted by the arrival of King Gobbledegook. He excused the interruption, but did not await permission before plunking his chair across the table from us and taking his seat. He replenished his glass from our flask of sherry and then totally re-directed our conversation.

"I know that you and my family are trying to protect me, but obviously something was wrong in the tests that Hermione did on my scrolls."

Neither Hermione nor I knew what to say and took the cowardly route of silence.

"I'm a King. I must face difficult facts. Yes, those scrolls mean a lot to me – they meant a lot to the whole family I grew up in. They were taken as proof of my grandfather's vision that I would be king. That's why I devoted my youth to the study of art, although my interests did not lie there. Please, tell me the truth. I must and can deal with truth. You may redirect my studies, but you won't kill my passion for our legends. A scholar cannot hide behind a lie, without making all of his work pointless."

Hermione told him the whole story.

"So the one scroll, at least, is likely genuine. I will focus my studies upon it. I must know how the other scrolls were created. It's a personal rather than a scholarly matter, but I also must know what my grandfather and father knew of these other scrolls. I admit that I often wondered why my family kept these treasures to ourselves, rather than sharing the evidence of our heritage with all Goblins. I guess now I know what the shadows of my mind always suspected. Thank you for the truth. I must go tell my family that I am stronger than they think."

"A very strange little man," Tony whispered. I'm not sure he meant to say that aloud, so I pretended not to hear.

Our husbands returned with Tony's soldiers, the two professors, and everyone carrying four of Hermione's bags, as well as such a large a pile of other equipment that I was surprised they had been able to apparate with all of it. As soon as introductions were made, Ron's agitation became apparent. Tony took the opportunity to drift away from us with the two soldiers.

"All went sort of well – really, I don't think any great damage done," Ron assured us. "The police stopped us at one point and wanted to check our identification and packages. Commander Harkwright sent them away. Harry's papers were good, mine were just kind of good. They looked okay, but the proper background wasn't there. Commander Harkwright had to be very forceful to make them leave us alone. Luckily, the two bags they checked were still empty. Commander Harkwright had the two bags with the goods and she told them that she would be searched only 'with the explicit approval of the Prime Minister'. The uniform helped, but the police weren't happy.

"It took a call to my contact in special branch to get the police to leave," Harry explained.

That sounded not at all good.

"Now you're in the system," Hermione gasped to Ron.

No question but we had to get better identification for Ron – possibly for all of us. Perhaps it was already too late for that. I shuddered to think what would have happened if Harry and Ron had gone shopping on their own.

"I know this is all very upsetting," Hermione's voice pierced my dark thoughts, "but we really should be talking to Professor Sturluson. Should I gather the whole group together, so everyone can hear what he has to say about Odin? I'm just going to assume for now that Harry and Ron brought back all of the explosives and detonators we'll need. I think we must take Ellie with us on this trip."


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter Fifty-One – The Professor Speaks**

"I am very happy to assist you," Professor Storluson told me. "You really appear to be embarked on a most exciting adventure and I would love it if I were permitted to travel with you and provide on-the-spot interpretation. You say that you have actually visited Asgard? How remarkable! If Reggie hadn't told me about some of the remarkable results he's obtained carbon-dating the samples you gave him, I'd be totally certain you were mad. Reggie and the Prime Minister have convinced me that I must take you and your extraordinary tale at least half seriously."

"Corpus Leviosum!"

I hate cheap theatrics, but have found that they can save oodles of time and gain me at least a meager measure of respect. After affording the good professor the opportunity to survey the pyramid from its very apex, I gently lowered him to the ground.

"Very well, I take your point, and that view was magnificent, but that doesn't make your story seem any less fantastical. You want to know about Odin and his brothers. I'm at a loss. I must tell you that the mythology is very clear, and my great-great-great was as great an expert on Odin as he is removed from my time – Odin is dead. I would have told you that he was a unifying myth and symbol, who embodied the finest aspirations and beliefs, as well as the desire for importance, of a primitive people. So, he is either an imaginary figure of early Nordic religion and literature, or the myths are truth and he is long since dead. I can even tell you how he died: he was killed by the great wolf Fenrir, during the ultimate battle of Ragnarok. Odin died, but he won the battle, or else our world would be nothing but chaos."

I asked "was Fenrir just an animal wolf, or was he what we call a Werewolf?"

"I'm not sure it really matters. Fenrir was fearsomely strong and so savage a killer, that he broke his unbreakable bonds and slew Odin. I haven't studied Werewolves, but since Fenrir was the son of Loki, another God of the Aesir, he presumably had some close-to-human characteristics. Fenrir is also dead – he was slain by one of Odin's sons, who very appropriately avenged his father. Why do you ask about Werewolves?"

"In our Voldemort war, we fought against and killed a terrible Werewolf named Fenrir Greyback. I was struck by the similarity of names," I told him.

Professor Sturluson answered "the similarity is not surprising. It was not uncommon for pet wolves to be named Fenrir. Still, it does bear further study."

Hermione had a much more significant general question. "What if the stories of Odin weren't ordinary legend, but a prophecy of things to come? What if Ragnarok is yet to occur and that it happens in a parallel world connected to our own? What if we have been recruited to change the outcome of that story?"

"Then I would be even more anxious to accompany you on your Quest, even though I recognize the danger of a foreign male traveling to Asgard."

"What is that danger?" Dad asked the professor.

"Every nine years, Odin is honored by male sacrifices. Captured invaders are foremost among those to be sacrificed. A Quest might well be viewed as an invasion. The mission you are planning especially might be viewed in that way. I'm still game to participate. If Odin or Fenrir live, then I must see them. Even if just Vili and Loki live – well, I want to meet them more than I have ever wanted anything. To risk death is a minor price to pay."

"I have read about the Odin myths," Hermione told the professor. "I've wondered a lot about Odin and his two brothers. It seemed to me that they might be the three sides of the same person, like a multiple personality. That makes it more likely that Frijjo would be sleeping with all of the brothers. In our adventure, we never saw Odin and Vili at the same time. We never saw Ve at all. Vili had two eyes and Odin only one, but an artificial magical eye is very possible. Mad-eye Moody had a very weird, but workable, artificial eye. It is well within our magical technology."

"Possible, but I just don't buy that explanation." The professor was so brusquely dismissive that Hermione gave him her look, but asked no further questions.

**Not exactly a sterling example of the open-minded scholar, is he?** I was shocked by the vehemence with which the Stone transmitted Hermione's message. She must have positively snarled the words to the Stone.

Professor Sturluson was looking slightly bewildered, as he sensed that he might have given offense but couldn't imagine how he had done so. After a long pause, he ventured "well, Odin is a master of magic, even feminine magic, so I suppose that is barely possible. Much of what has been described to me falls under the category: barely possible. Harry told me what happened inside the other pyramid. Odin didn't just stand by and passively watch Demons do his fighting for him. Odin was honorable. He also loved a good fight. If he came to fight, you would have seen his spear, and his wolves, his ravens, perhaps even his horse. What Harry described is not at all how Odin would behave."

"And yet, it is far easier to affect a second eye than to make one of your eyes vanish." Hermione's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Despite what you say about Demons, Odin certainly had commerce with the dead, and Demons are often described as being dead. You are clearly limiting your thinking to how Judaeo-Christians describe Demons. The ancients didn't take the same view. I have reviewed a vast store of many ancient people's lore. I am on solid ground here. I hope you plan to accompany us as a true scholar, not as an old man who has had his mind made up for decades."

Hermione walked away from the professor.

"I'm sure I know more about mythology than that impertinent young woman – who is she, anyway."

"She is my Muse," I replied. "She has the knowledge of our ancient priestesses and special Light Guardian knowledge. She is second in command of the Quest."

King Gobbledegook explained the situation to the professor. "Each of our communities has its own version of legend. Some overlap, some do not. Your great-great-great grandfather wrote of legend less than a thousand years ago. Before you came to this pyramid, you had no idea that my people even existed, let alone that we have legends which go back many thousands of years. We have written legends that go back well over a thousand years ago. The Elves, such as their good King Cotto, who stands before you, tell tales going back five thousand years. That Black Stone over there, it is at least ten thousand years old. It stores memories that old. Ginny and Hermione have access to its memories. It would be best if you showed a little humility. Others besides your great-great grandfather have studied Odin and the other Aesirs. Some of us have seen that which you have only read third-hand accounts of. Hermione has translated runes which are many thousands of years old. She translated runes on the wall of this very pyramid – they are over five thousand years old. If you wish to be permitted to see such things for yourself, you would be wise to behave better."

Professor Sturluson looked totally abashed and startled. At first he mis-spoke, telling the king "but that is impossible, there were no men living here as long as five thousand years ago: certainly none who had the ability to write."

"I never said that humans created these runes," the king calmly told him.

"I'm sorry, yet again. I guess I have quite a lot to learn from all of you. I would love to have the chance to examine these runes."

I realized that Hermione and I are younger than his youngest grad students, and that it was only natural for him to mis-underestimate us. However, he needed to understand that he had entered our world. Here, he was the inexperienced novice. King Gobbledegook's statements had left the professor looking decidedly ill, as if his understanding of the world had been upended.

"I had best go apologize to your Muse," the professor told me. "I didn't realize she was so learned."

"You must listen to Hermione. She is very wise," I heard wafting up, from the level of my kneecaps.

I looked down and smiled at Aagog, just as Professor Sturluson looked down and saw her standing on his shoes. He collapsed in a dead faint. I had to use another 'corpus leviosum' just to prevent his head from banging on the stone floor.

I told Aagog that she should move away out of sight as I used a healing spell, which I knew would restore the professor to full consciousness.

I helped him to stand. He looked around the pyramid, saw Hermione, and headed off in her direction. She was talking to her Uncle Reg, likely about what a great ass his professor friend had turned out to be.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter Fifty-Two – Of Course We Can Get Along With Professor Sturluson**

I apparated to Hermione's side, hoping to put her in the proper mood for Professor Sturluson's arrival. He seemed the sort who might easily be driven to retreat back to his university, if he encountered to much unpleasantness. I wanted to forestall this. While I wasn't thrilled with the guy, I suspected he had some nuggets of knowledge which could prove helpful to us. I also didn't want to offend Tony by upsetting his expert. Frankly, the guy looked like he couldn't be trusted not to blab, and I didn't want him running about while I was in Asgard. The spells for preventing that sort of thing aren't as absolutely effective as preventing the guy from leaving is. As I heard Hermione's voice, I had made the right decision.

"… but he's such an arrogant dandy."

I had only heard Hermione use that term to describe Lucius Malfoy. I couldn't imagine the professor even approaching Lucius's power, but perhaps power was measured differently is his world.

"The professor is coming you way, Hermione. I think he wants to apologize."

"Does he now?"

Hermione played nice and accepted Professor Sturluson's apology. She even smiled when he said he hadn't realized at first that she was a scholarly prodigy. He begged to see the runes. Hermione seemed eager to show off her translation skill, so the four of us headed off to visit the runes. McGonagall caught up with us, just as we were walking around the magical circle to the far side, where the runes were located. She told the two professors that she wanted to personally welcome them, professor-to-professor to 'her world'.

"And here they are…" Hermione proudly pointed at the far wall. Hermione had ordered the lighting to brighten, so that the soot-accented rune carvings were clearly visible."

The professor studied them intently, mouth agape. McGonagall added additional historical information, but I don't think the professor was listening. We watched him work for over half an hour, chit chatting quietly among ourselves, but not disturbing him. The chit chat quickly became serious, as I realized that McGonagall had a specific reason for following us.

"I was thinking about your description of Asgard. Odin's ovals of magical power struck me as just the thing to cure my current condition. Mafalda looks two decades younger, don't you think?"

I did. "Mafalda spent more time in the ovals than the rest of us. She was an impossibly slow learner and never was able to world-walk."

"I just can't make it out! I think I spot a word here and there, although the symbols aren't quite right… I try to compensate and use the same irregularity on other words, but I just can't grasp it." The professor was clearly frustrated.

Hermione pointed word by word as she quickly translated the whole message. "It's far more ancient than what you're used to reading," she explained to him, "and as you can tell from my translation, some of the words are technical terms relating to the transporter."

"You mean this is a device for transporting different beings to other worlds?"

"It is…"

"It was," I told him. "Unfortunately it's broken beyond any hope of repair. Neither we nor your people understand its working well enough to fix it." It was perhaps impolite to talk over Hermione, but I wanted to get out the strong message that the transporter was broken. I couldn't trust Hermione in her current mode to say what must be said.

"How did you ever decipher this message. You're not old enough to have spent the years of study necessary for such a task."

"It was very difficult," Hermione gloated. "It took my Runes instructor and me the better part of a month to do it. We had studied three other ancient rune systems, which seemed somewhat similar. When Uncle Reg told me how old these runes were, I knew that we had to work backwards from the later rune systems that we did understand. You know how it's done… you look for the similarities in the runic languages you understand and then you extrapolate back to the ancient root. The transporter worked then – one of Tony's aides accidentally broke it – so that helped with the technical words. They were really operating instructions of a sort and we had operated it."

"That's just an incredible intellectual achievement… really, it's a life's work for rune experts from my world. So… this is where it all began."

"The language, perhaps, but the technology was brought from elsewhere," Hermione told him.

They seemed friendly enough that Professor Sturluson felt himself on solid ground almost demanding that Hermione and I again recount our tale of Asgard. "Even the smallest detail might be vitally important."

We returned to our chairs, knowing how long this would take. McGonagall was glued to us. I didn't really mind. She would see it all, when she traveled to Asgard with us. Hopefully, she would see and learn enough to quench her interest in Questing. If McGonagall bowed out of her Quest, I was quite sure that Narcissa wouldn't go it without her.

It took close to two hours to tell the tale, interspersed with questions from Professor Sturluson and even from McGonagall. When we finished, Professor Sturluson seemed convinced that he had spotted the missing core of our story.

"You didn't mention Yggdrasil. The giant world-tree Yggdrasil was the center of Odin's universe. It connected all nine of his worlds. If you found the well, you must have seen the tree. Asgard without Yggdrasil simply isn't the real Asgard. It's just not possible. Did you not see any sort of very large tree in the vicinity of the observatory?"

Well, no we hadn't. This didn't strike me as all that odd. How could a tree be big enough to join nine worlds? It made little sense.

Hermione did seem perplexed. She had read quite a bit of Norse mythology and had tried to explain it to me. I did remember the word Yggdrasil. It was such a silly word that one could hardly forget having heard it.

"It was a poem, perhaps it was a metaphorical tree?" Hermione surmised.

Unfortunately, Professor Sturluson reverted to his pedantic speech. "No, my dear girl, that's why they call it the **prose** Edda – to distinguish it from the more poetic interpretations of the legend."

Hermione was a tad frosty as the professor continued to explore the minutia of the appearance and behavior of Vili, compared to Odin. He seemed oblivious to Hermione's change of mood, as he basically trashed her conjecture of a split personality Odin-Vili-Ve being, finally telling her "it should be perfectly apparent that your supposed entity can't just add and subtract an eye at will. That really does contradict all interpretations of the legend. As my great-great-great…"

Hermione had a beyond mischievous gleam in her eye as she ordered the professor: "lean towards me and look down at your shoes."

I don't know whether he was so caught up in what he was saying or if he feared a reappearance of Aagog, but he immediately did as she asked. Hermione reached out, grabbed a small hank of hair, and yanked it out."

"Ouch! Why did you do that? I don't have any hair to spare."

"It was essential for the demonstration I am about to conduct. It is frustratingly difficult to keep you in a mental state where you realize that you don't actually know it all."

As she spoke, she pulled out a small vial, labeled it, and stashed most of the hair. The remaining hairs went into a larger vial. She asked me to hold it, while she extracted the Polyjuice potion from her bag and poured some into the vial I was holding. The vial fizzed, the fizz settled. Hermione took the vial from me and drank its contents in a single gulp, reaching for a Witch sherry chaser as she finished.

"Watch her carefully," I alerted the professor. "You are about to learn something new."

He was a little grossed out as Hermione started to change. He had to look away. When he dared to look back, he was staring at himself.

"I find myself apologizing to you, yet again. You do have skills that I can't even imagine. It's like I'm talking to a mythological being. I shall strive to behave myself."

"That was perhaps an overly dramatic demonstration, but I think you can now see how my proposed single being could assume a different form."

He requested and received a detailed description of how the juice works. I thought he got the better of Hermione, when he told her "you've certainly explained how either brother could impersonate the other, but what you just explained doesn't show how one being could use its own hair to change between two different bodies associated with different states of mind, even if the association is so thorough that it sees itself as three different beings."

Hermione was at first stumped, but then wondered whether Polyjuice potion was able to recognize major bodily changes resulting from serious injury. "If hair was collected before he sacrificed the eye and other hairs were collected after the injury, would they result in different forms of the same person. If I took the baby Hermione hair saved by my mother… no, of course that hair would be too old to work. If I had placed the baby Hermione hair in the magical oval every few months ...? No, I don't think that would really work, either. I can't prove it is impossible, but I also don't know exactly how Odin could have done it. The simplest explanation is that his magic is a little different from our own."

"Your classes must have been very lively, with this one in attendance," Professor Sturluson told McGonagall.

"Both of them," she corrected him, "but you're correct, this one hurled a visiting professor across his classroom and out a second-floor window, with just a flick of her wand."

"That's not fair," Hermione complained. "He was a very evil Wizard and he was using the unforgivable curses. I had the Cruciatus used on me once. I wasn't about to repeat the experience, even with my shields fully charged. I will not allow myself to be mistreated."

Professor Sturluson took a few steps away from her. Really, he hid behind McGonagall. And then, the light went on in my head.

"Frau Schwein – we need Frau Schwein. She was the one to warn us of the Valkyrie. We've been led to regard them as friendly, but Frau Schwein warned us about them. There was more… I just can't remember it all. We must speak with her, before we venture back into Asgard. I must talk to Viktor and Cho."

Viktor said that Frau Schwein was at Durmstrang. He apparated there to fetch her. I could tell that Hermione was as excited at me. We **had** overlooked the warning about the Valkyries. What else did Frau Schwein know about the dangers we faced?

I asked Hermione. It took just a minute and a half of rooting around in her bag to find the note in question. She showed it to me.

_'__Great Danger. Beware die Valkyrie. The secret chamber be open. Stay away from Durmstrang or you Die._

_A Friend, not an enemy.'_

"Yes, I remember now. Honestly, that seems like a lifetime ago. What secret chamber is open? Was that a warning about Salazar Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets? How could Frau Schwein know about that? And we've been to Durmstrang."

"We could very well have died as a result of going to Durmstrang. I don't know what chamber. Frau Schwein will tell us."

Frau Schwein was unable to give us what Captain Davies called 'actionable intelligence'. The good Frau Schwein apologized for what she realized was fragmented, incomplete, and possibly contradictory information… really more hints or little clues than solid guidance about how we should move forward.

"I am a Witch. Germanic and Eastern European conservative Wizards do not discuss politics, war, or intrigue in the presence of Witches. They say we wouldn't understand, but fear we understand too well and report what they say. I am never in room where they speak. Door is closed, but voices become loud and I hear little things. Months pass and I have heard many little things. I tell you what I hear. I hope it is big help to you. You know Herr Schwein so you try think like he think." She pulled several folded slips of paper from the pocket of her sweater, telling us "this is what I hear:

" 'Die Valkyrie desperate escape…die Valkyrie steal leader… Valkyrie need Ginny Weasley… Quest bring her to Durmstrang and we kill her here… big surprise for stupid English Witches… abominable Quest with animals… Slytherin… low key promise… world far beyond…Grindelwald's plan will… the chamber is open! We will win… tricked them all… big, big surprise – boom!... they must come… my life not important… win or die together… trust in Gods… Witches are stupid… stupid Witches fighting Gods –Hah!... fools doing our work… Montaigne… cursed foreigner Cho … Knodell… trap will walk into… too brave to live the… white column is big… older than you can… soon we watch them… rule many worlds.' That's all I have. I wrote down every word I heard. Herr Professor Schwein suspects, but I hide papers well."

"We thought the open chamber might be the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. Do you know of another chamber?" Hermione asked Frau Schwein. "Perhaps something associated with Durmstrang?"

"I don't know what was meant by that."

Viktor shook his head no.

"Did you see the Wizards your husband met with?" Barb asked, notepad and pen in hand.

"Some I see… the Knodell boy and our groundskeeper for certain. One Wizard look strange – big like your Hagrid, but with red and black paint on face. Your Shacklebolt show me pictures. I think Thicknesse, Montaigne boy, and Minister LeDoux are at my home once – I think, they wear scarf over mouth and hat over forehead.I told your Shacklebolt I not know for total fact."

"I attended Herr Schwein's class," Cissy told his wife. "He did not seem the sort of Wizard to meet with even a half-Giant if he had a choice. He seemed a more prejudiced shadow of my father."

"Wizard was very big. Herr Schwein not want me to see. Wizard come to bathroom. I see quick look. At least big as Hagrid, but look wild, crazy half Wizard-Giant."

That's all we could pry out of Frau Schwein's mind. We questioned her from multiple directions, hoping to open a sealed-off memory. She strained to remember. She had nothing else to tell us. She apparated back to Durmstrang.

Viktor suggested that we follow the same plan as our last entry to Durmstrang. "A small scouting party should slip in under the invisibiity cloaks and try to find out if anyone is at home at Valaskjalf. There are so many windows that you ought to be able to spy out just about the whole palace if you fly on your brooms, or do a quick apparate up and back down. If it's empty, you can send for the rest of the team, and get to work exploring and laying your traps."

We all agreed that this was a good plan. A bird would be a great spy with all the windows. Blacky's loyalties were uncertain. A phoenix would be close to ideal, but both of the birds were nesting atop eggs at the moment.

"I can build you a nest warmer in about an hour," Mr. Granger assured us.

"I can climb up the walls and look down through windows," Aagog volunteered.

We went back and forth for a couple hours trying to decide how many of us should go and who the intrepid scouts should be. I thought Barb, Cho, and me. Hermione said that her knowledge would be needed to interpret some of what we might see. I argued that I didn't want to risk both of us. I said that I was needed to communicate to Harry. We decided to travel with Fawkes, Aagog, Hermione, Barb, and Cho. Agreement seemed fully in hand, when an unexpected voice spoke up.

"You need to take me," Professor Sturluson said. "Believe me, the most important thing is to find the tree Yggdrasil. You need me for that."

"I'm quite sure that I can identify a giant tree," I told him.

"But are you capable of identifying a metaphorical tree? Hermione could be right. Perhaps you didn't see a tree, because Yggdrasil isn't an actual tree?"

Nobody else voted that the professor should travel with the scouting party.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter Fifty-Three – Three Witch Spies In Asgard**

I decided that I wanted to world-walk right into Valaskjalf from the White Column at Durmstrang. I wanted to travel light, without any of the Unicorns in the first wave. This was a bit of a risk. There might be Demons at Valaskjalf, if Odin had reasserted control of the place. The Unicorns had been very effective in fighting the Demons. But for the spy mission, I was convinced that stealth was more important than Unicorn power.

Without the Unicorns, it would be just too dangerous for a spy who couldn't world-walk. That left Barb traveling with the second wave. I knew it would be a hard sell to convince Barb, and likely Harry and Dad as well, that I was safer traveling without her. A Unicorn is awfully big to try to hide under an invisibiity cloak.

I got a tougher argument than I expected. Dad wanted to send Ellie, and Tony wanted to send his soldiers, so that we could plant our surprises right away. I said that was for wave two, period. Only world-walkers could come on the scouting trip. I suggested that Ellie might rig the Durmstrang White Column, just in case.

{{Harry, make damned sure the British soldiers don't set our surprise so that they can trigger it. This is an absolute emergency measure only. Killing the White Columns could kill magic. This is a last-ditch defense against an invasion between worlds.}}

{[Worried] You are right to be concerned. I'm sure Tony will want to do that for the same reason you want the surprises. I'll try to do your Firenze trick. Ellie will help me.}

Margaret messaged me through the Stone. **Come quick. I'm in the Great Hall and there is an owl I think is desperate to find you.**

That was a slight delay in plans, but I apparated to meet Margaret. Dad made me take Barb, "just in case."

The owl was startled when I just popped into the Great Hall, but quickly recovered and landed on the table closest to me. I thanked Margaret, as I stripped the message from the bird.

As I expected, the note was from Adrienne.

'I am going out of my mind. I hid so fast I don't even have painting supplies. I am safe, well fed, well cared-for, and utterly and totally bored. I have been thinking about my adventures with Odin or Vili and Frijjo. You should know that while I was rather forward and thought I must act to save you, it was Frijjo who made the first move. You saw how interested Odin or Vili was during our first meal, but when he learned that the phoenix was not mine, his interest waned. Still, I think he asked Frijjo to recruit me. In bed, he was definitely the leader, and I had to fight for time with Frijjo. He is the leader of the two of them.

'I'm sure you are questioning if I took the proper potion. Of course I did! I double-checked my supply just today. After Bruee, even when I'm with only Amanda, I make certain my supply is fresh. I am very responsible. There must have been something in the wine by the bedside, which led to me being in the condition I'm in. When I left the two of them on the morning after, Odin or Vili had the attitude of a guy who had done what he felt he had to do and was finished with me. Since they didn't stop me from leaving, I believe that I am safe.

This is all a long-winded way of saying that I badly want to come home. Unless you return my owl with a note telling me to stay where I am, I shall go to Amanda's house. My next note will be a portkey, which can bring you to my hiding spot. I will stick it out here as long as I can – at least for a week.

Good luck on your adventure!

A'

When I showed the note to Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Dad, they all agreed to leave Adrienne where she was for now.

"We can send the owl back to her with some art supplies," Ron suggested.

I thought that a good idea and messaged Margaret to release the bird with a message that Adrienne should stay in place for at least two weeks. Margaret should also load the bird with as many art supplies as she felt the owl could manage. I thought at least a couple rolled up canvases and a few tubes of paint should be possible.

That business completed, all but a small guard unit of soldiers and aurors to protect the pyramid apparated to Durmstrang. Hermione, Cho, and I took the two Peverell cloaks, the Gryffindor and Joan swords, and a couple of small bombs, and prepared to world-walk. Fawkes was on Hermione's shoulder and Aagog between mine. She was getting quite heavy. At the last moment, Brighid decided that it was best that she should come with us. Odin liked her. She didn't need a cloak to make herself invisible - she was a not unreasonable drop-in palace guest.

The four of us quickly shuffled through the White Column and into Valaskjalf, before anyone else could invite themselves into our party.

The palace sounded quiet, but we were on a level that I had only seen used for traveling to or from by White Column.

"Don't move," I warned my companions quietly. "There must be magical protections. I can't believe the column isn't guarded."

Hermione agreed, telling me "you, Brighid, and Cho search for alarm spells. I'll Witch sculpt our surprise into the bottom of this column."

She pulled the Dumbledore viewer out of her bag and handed it to me. I scanned all around the large room we were standing in. I saw no evidence of alarm spells. Brighid had done her own search and also found nothing. Aagog said she detected only stale smells.

"No alarm spells," I told Hermione. "I think they rely upon those big metal doors in and out of here. I don't think we can get past them. I'd sooner try to apparate outside. I marked a spot between the forge and observatory. The forge shields view from the palace."

"I agree," Cho concurred. "I also marked a spot in that vicinity. We'll move as soon as Hermione is finished. Why don't you contact Harry and tell him: so far, so good, moving on to phase two."

I agreed and reached out to Harry. I got him on the first try. I was quite well attuned to this White Column. It would be a shame to destroy it. It also would likely be a huge nose-thumbing to all of the Aesir Gods. It must be an absolutely last-ditch measure.

Hermione finished sculpting as I finished talking with Harry. We apparated in two groups.

I don't why, but I was a little surprised when we apparated into near darkness. Looking up, I saw stars and a sliver of moon – and a bigger sliver of a bigger moon, this one just above the horizon. As soon as my eyes were acclimated enough to the dark to verify that I was standing halfway between forge and observatory, I sent Aagog on her way to climb Valaskjalf, while Hermione released Fawkes. Hermione couldn't communicate with Fawkes as well as I could share images with Blacky, but she thought Fawkes understood what he must do and knew how to communicate whether the palace was empty or occupied.

We had agreed that we were more confident of entering the observatory than the forge. It also seemed much more interesting. We paused to view the green grass around us through the magical force viewers. I didn't want to accidentally trip an alarm charm. Not seeing anything, I focused upon the door to the observatory – there was nothing obvious from this distance.

I felt safe enough to advance to the door, checking it for alarm charms from close range. I saw nothing, but was very unsure what sort of protections the Aesir Gods used. I knew that Odin had electricity in his observatory, which meant he could have Muggle-type alarms on this door. Mr. Weasley had mentioned electrical alarms in one of our Muggle-studies classes. He had even demonstrated one, but I wasn't at all sure that I could spot, yet alone disable, such an alarm.

This door was not all that substantial, but was made of Odin silver. Perhaps he viewed that as adequate protection. Perhaps I was only able to see the door, because Vili and Frijjo had pointed it out and led me through it. I knew the spot they touched to open and close it. This was where the alarm was bound to be. I hadn't noticed a ring on Vili's hand when he opened this door for me. Could it be as simple as opening to any finger which knew the correct spot to touch? There was no indentation as on the pyramid doors, but I had memorized the location. There was a peculiar twist in the grain of one of the larger stones which made up this wall. That's where I needed to touch to open the door.

I told myself that we might be really pressed for time, but that I must wait until Hermione did what she could to find any non-magical alarms. Getting caught sneaking into the observatory would be almost as bad as being caught in the act of sabotaging the White Column.

"If the dome of the observatory is partially open, we should be able to see inside," Hermione advised. "If the observatory looks dark and uninhabited, I'd consider apparating inside to have a look. There may be alarm spells or Muggle-type alarms, but I think I memorized a safe spot on the rim of the well. I just have to apparate from the right position, so I don't fall in."

Cho suggested, "It's a little hard to safely control you in the dark, but if you do a not glaringly obvious lumos with your wand, Hermione, Brighid and I will 'leviosum' you as high as we can. We can't hold you up for long. Even with all of the practicing we did, our powers just aren't that strong here. Wave your wand, when you've seen what you need to see."

We managed to barely hoist Hermione high enough to see what she needed to see, although we banged her into the side of the observatory on the way up. When she waved her wand several seconds after that, I wasn't sure if she was high enough or whether her confidence in our ability to avoid killing her had been shattered. She would have been justified in that distrust. We banged her again on the way down and then dropped her the final fifteen feet. We did our best to arrest her fall with spells, but we were tired and our strength was flagging. It wasn't like one of my Quidditch falls, but she hit the grass kind of hard. She broke her wand and possibly an ankle. The ankle was at least sprained. I lit my wand as brightly as seemed safe and examined the ankle. I was thinking it probably wasn't broken, when Hermione spoke.

"It's not broken, but I can tell it is really going to hurt to walk on it. You'll have to help me fix it."

I used the best spells I could think of, as did Hermione. I tore off the hem of my robes and used it to bind her ankle for added support. This was the best that either of us could do.

"Can you stand?" I asked.

"I'm actually in a good position for apparating atop the well," she replied. "I might as well just do that."

She was gone. I was a little displeased. We might have spent at least a couple minutes discussing the fine points of tactics, before she just went ahead and entered the observatory.

I didn't have much time to brood over Hermione's rashness and failure to seek my guidance. I heard a pop and she was on the grass, next to me.

"Whew! That was **far** to close. The observatory is guarded by cockatrice. The reports on their deadliness are contradictory, but I didn't take any chances. I feel lucky to be alive. I heard a scuttling sound and threw a big ball of light against the far wall. They stopped coming at me and went after the light. I saw four of them. I'm shaking. Just hold me."

I did. I knew that I'd understand Hermione's fear better if I had actually heard of a cockatrice. "Hagrid never mentioned cockatrice. What is it and why is it dangerous."

"It's like a little baskilisk with wings and legs. Or it's a rooster head and body joined to a snake. The things in there are three to four feet long. Some writers say that you can die if you lock eyes with a cockatrice, or if it spits poison on you, or even if just touches you with talon, beak, or the sharp end feathers on its wings. I didn't want to find out which author is correct. One ancient Witch said they are harmless and make fine pets."

"So, I guess we can't go in there unless we can quickly kill the things. Even if we kill them, we're now going to have to move very fast. If Odin or Vili find their guards dead, there goes our stealth. We know what we'll find inside the other buildings. I'm glad you're alright. You moved very quickly in there. That could have been very bad. I hate to just sit here wasting time, but I think it's the right thing to do."

"Yeah, as soon as Aagog and Fawkes return, you should order in the reinforcements. Tell Harry that I need a rooster, as many weasels as he can find and, if possible, a mongoose or two."

I did that, even before asking why. Hermione was having a bad night and seemed to need time to re-gather herself, rather than answer a stream of questions from me. I should have been the one to face the danger of checking out the observatory. I'm the better fighter, and I'm the one with both legs working at the moment. Still, I had to admit that Hermione had handled herself very well. She had learned what needed to be learned and had escaped unscathed. I might have decided to stay and fight. What I learned might have died with me.

Fawkes was the first to arrive. She sat on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione talked in sing-song fashion and Fawkes answered with a variety of phoenix song. It made no sense to me, but Hermione understood.

"There are no lights in the palace, it appears to be deserted. Of course, late at night, there might well not be lights. Fawkes landed on the dome of the sleeping chamber, but still reports that the palace is vacant."

I felt Aagog climbing up me to cling to my left shoulder. She told me that she had caught a flight back with Fawkes, but had fallen off as the phoenix landed. She confirmed that bed and all of the palace visible from its windows was vacant. That was all I needed to know. I messaged Harry to send the second wave to me.

We apparated back to cavern of the White Column, so that we could apparate the new arrivals to the lawn. If we entered the palace, it would not be by way of that very thick door from the White Column cavern.

I left Jaden and Commander Harkwright, along with two of the Unicorns, to guard the White Column. I told them that we had already fixed the column. They weren't really to guard it, just to spot an intruder and escape to the lawn and back to Durmstrang. We apparated the rest of the party to the lawn.

In the very short time available, Harry had managed to collect eight weasels, a mongoose, and two roosters for me. The first into the observatory were to be the roosters. Hermione had explained the the morning cock-a-doodle-doo of a randy rooster is reputed to be death to the cockatrice. It was worth a try, but the try couldn't be made until sunrise, which really couldn't be all that long from now. After the roosters had a chance to do their thing, I would send my brigade of weasels and mongoose into battle. The Witches and Captain Davies would follow, protected by Cantring's bow.

Dawn finally arrived. We carried the roosters to the door, not knowing whether it would open to my touch. If it didn't, Hermione and I would do a quick apparate in and out. As the first rooster began to crow, I touched the door. It opened and we tossed both roosters inside. My rooster continued crowing. Hermione sent in Fawkes to encourage the second rooster. There was another cock-a-doodle-doo. Then there were quite a few squawks, followed by silence.

I sent in the second squad and waited. Fawkes was the first out. She was quickly followed by the weasels and mongoose. The mongoose and six of the weasels were dragging cockatrice behind them. One weasel had a rooster. The rooster and the cockatrice appeared to be dead.

We had won the battle, but Hermione seemed upset. "I don't know whether weasels were indigenous to Asgard, but they have them now. I hope Harry at least provided all male or all female weasels. I really doubt he did – I forgot to specify that in my request, and we hardly gave him a lot of time. At least there's only one mongoose. We may have committed a very great crime against Asgard's environment." Hermione seemed quite sad as she said this. I was mainly glad that the cockatrice were dead, but perhaps she had a point.

Barb, Cho, and I led the way into the observatory, with Cantring at our backs. Aagog scooted ahead of us, shouting "I bite!"

I saw one rooster strutting about and a weasel sniffing at scent trails, but no cockatrice. The weasel and the rooster were keeping a wary watch on each other. I moved farther into the observatory, asking Ellie, Captain Davies, Tendra, Professor Sturluson, and Brighid to join us. The rest would guard the lawn and stay out of sight of the palace. I told Captain Davies and the professor that it would help if they could capture the rooster before the weasel killed it. I wanted to toss it into the forge, if we still controlled this real estate at the next dawn. We couldn't plant our surprise in the forge's magical circle, if we couldn't get inside its building without battling cockatrice.

I suggested to Hermione that Fawkes might profitably return to patrol duty. If any ravens showed up, I wanted them downed, before they could report our presence.

Hermione did the sing-song communication thing again, this time with hand signals and facial expressions thrown in. Fawkes took off and flew toward the top of the palace. I hoped that she understood what he was supposed to do.

I realized that we had come too far into the observatory to have failed to check for alarm spells, but thought the recent animal carnage would have tripped any alarms. Still, I took a minute to scan the interior. I especially scanned the interior of the well. Once again, I found nothing.

"We need to go down the well," I told the crew. "Barb, Brighid, and I will go first. The rest of you, check the observatory for something important or something that doesn't belong here."

"No big trees," I told the professor. "Do you want to look around outside or see if you can learn anything in here."

"I want to study the observatory. You say that Odin observes the heavens from here. That is astonishing. And this may be the famous magical well of lore. I will want to go inside it, but I realize that I am not a fighting man. I'll wait for you to clear the way."

We dropped weighted ropes. We hauled one up. It had enough markers that I could tell that the water sat a little over twelve hundred feet below us. Vili's estimate of over a mile was a tad off, unless he was referring to the bottom of the lake. Barb said she would go first. We should watch for her wand signal – a shot of light up the well. She'd send the signal if all seemed safe and then she would apparate to the shore of the lake, assuming Vili had told the truth about there being a shore.

It took many long minutes for Barb to climb down the rope, but I eventually did see some light at the bottom of the shaft. A minute or so of that light pulsing bright, then dim, then bright… and finally a flash of light was fired up the shaft toward me.

I was excited. It was time to explore. I hadn't admitted, even to myself, how badly I wanted to see what was at the bottom of that well.

Professor Sturluson's eagerness also overcame him. "Now that Barb has declared the lake to be safe, perhaps I should come down between you and Hermione. I know what to look for."

"It is safe, at least Barb kind of thinks it's safe, to climb down the rope and apparate to the shore. You can't apparate. You'd have to swim. We don't know what is in the lake. It could be very hungry. I don't even know how well you can swim. You'll have to wait for one of us to return and apparate you to the shore. I'm not planning on staying long on this trip. We have a lot of gear to move down there. I promise, you'll get your chance. Now, I just HAVE to find out what is down there."

I told Aagog to get up on my shoulders. She said she could climb down the rope faster than I could. I told her "fine, then you're right behind me. I want you to take a good smell of whatever might be down there."

I sat on the edge of the well, grabbed hold of the rope and started to hand walk my way down, using my booted feet as brakes. I had my straw hat strapped onto my head. I planned to have my broom for a little quick exploration, once Hermione, Tendra, and Brighid had joined me.

I announced this plan and Brighid let out a cry. "I'm so stupid! All of that water! I must fetch the Cailleach." She was gone.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter Fifty-Four – The Underground Lake**

Climbing down the rope was tougher than I expected it to be. I cursed my excessive curiosity. We should have taken the time to assemble our muggle equipment. It would have made my descent far easier and spared the rope burns my hands and legs were suffering. I was excited, but also annoyed. If Barb had made it down, so could I. What was a little pain and discomfort compared to a great adventure. I shook my head. Was Cissy influencing me more than I influenced her? Whatever, fighting this out in my mind made climbing down the rope more bearable. I was making good progress. The air was starting to feel much damper and mustier.

I could tell that Barb was throwing big balls of light around the underground cavern. The faint flashes were becoming brighter. Suddenly, my head descended below the ceiling, giving me a view across a faintly-lit expanse of rough rock. I looked down and had a panoramic view of a truly humongous cavern. It was a very large space not to have any supporting pillars. I marveled at what nature or the Aesir Gods could engineer, and then I saw it – this cavern had its own floor-to-ceiling Black Stone.

I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was. The two White Columns had their echoes in Aesir, so why not my own ancient Black Stone? I knew from my own world that the Black Stone pre-dated the White Column of Azkaban. It was able to control that White Column. I knew its association with the Light Guardian. I assumed that my Black Stone was also older than the Durmstrang column.

I called to Aagog to climb onto my shoulders. It was almost time to apparate to the shore. As soon as she settled upon me, I asked "do you smell anyone down here?"

"There is Barb and one other," was whispered back to me.

I saw Barb a hundred feet from me, standing on a narrow shore. I used my wand to signal 'all clear' to Hermione and then I apparated us to Barb. Barb pointed at the black stone.

"I know. I almost missed it in the dark. It looks like my Black Stone. I checked – it goes all the way to the ceiling of the cavern. I didn't think until it was too late, but I should have asked Aagog to check if the Stone goes through the ceiling. If this lake really is close to a mile deep, then this particular black stone is at least a mile tall. That increases the odds that this black stone was another twin of my Black Stone. Aagog says she smells the presence of another down here. Have you seen any signs of somebody?"

"No, and I've listened and looked as carefully as I can without straying too far from the ropes. I even apparated to the opposite shore. I chose to come back to this one, because the far shore is even narrower and steeper. I'd guess it's only ten-feet wide. Both shores slope up fairly steeply. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they completely flood quite frequently, if there is a rainy season around here."

She tossed a ball of light against the near wall of the cavern. It was around fifteen feet from us. "You can see a high water mark about eight feet above the highest point of the shore. It looks like the cavern never floods completely, but it comes to within about five feet of the ceiling."

"I don't know if that's comforting or not. I guess we can breathe as long as we can swim and as long as nothing in the lake decides to eat us. Hermione will be next down the rope. When she gets here, I'd like the two of you to be guards, while I try to talk to this black stone. If it truly is my Black Stone, then it should accept me as an old friend."

The cave suddenly brightened. I looked toward the ropes and saw Hermione dangling from the center one. The next blob of light she threw splattered against the side of the black stone. Her 'wow! Of course, it had to be.' was loud enough for me to clearly hear her. I signaled with my wand. Hermione signaled back to those above us, then she was standing by my side.

I asked Hermione to guard me for a few minutes, while I tried to talk to the black stone. I told her that Barb would explain everything. As Barb began the explanation, I sat down and reached for this black stone, using the same mental technique I used to communicate with The Black Stone. I reached it and received a welcome in less than half a minute.

A quick back-and-forth yielded the answer that this sort-of was my Black Stone - at least it was my Stone to a greater extent than was the one in the artificial world we had world-walked to from my Stone. As this black stone and I continued talking, I realized that it knew that I was the Mother of the Future. Surprisingly, it knew the substance of all of my former communications with my Black Stone. I know that a rock can't feel pride, but I would swear that this one proudly told me, **I am the original and parent Black Stone. All of the others are linked to me. Whatever you say to them is known by me. I am the root of all of the knowledge of all of the black stones on all of the worlds which you can visit. You can world-walk to any of them from me. I am THE Black Stone. Fear not, I am your friend and have been appointed your servant**.

"Who appointed you my servant?"

**Odin. Actually, I am your servant and your master.**

"Did Odin make you?"

**I made Odin.**

"Where is Odin?"

**Part of Odin is always with me. He is here now. Come to me and see.**

"Did you choose me for this Quest?"

**Odin and I and yourself.**

"What must I do? Why such a terrible, false start to my Quest?"

**I already said what you must do. You must come across the water to me. Another interfered with the Quest. It is not your Quest, it is Odin's.**

"Huh!"

**You are the mortal instrument. A most excellent instrument, but an instrument. It is Odin who Quests.**

"Alright, I'll be right there."

I told Hermione and Barb, "It's time to change our hats into brooms. The Stone wants us to visit it. It says Odin is with it. Well, to be precise, it says that PART of Odin is with it."

Realizing that Tendra had already joined us, I lamely added "Tendra can ride with Barb."

We had all become so adept at this particular transfiguration that by the time we removed our hats from our heads and lowered them to the level of our hips, they were brooms. Perhaps the brooms and hats were so used to changing back and forth that it took only the barest nudge to move them from one state to the other. I got Aagog aboard my broom, in the Cotto/Baal position, and off we went.

We threw balls of light ahead of ourselves as we approached THE Black Stone. I didn't see Odin until I zoomed around to the back side of the Stone. He was hanging by one ankle from a leg iron attached to the face of THE Black Stone. His other leg was bent and crossed over the first. He wasn't moving. He wasn't moving at all, not even a little twitch.

As I approached to get a better look, Aagog spoke up: "he is what I smell. He smell very bad - dead, but not dead."

At this distance, I also could smell him. If told that he hadn't bathed in a decade, I would totally accept that statement. I pulled my broom closer, so that I could touch the inert form of Odin. Up close, I saw at once that he had only the one eye. This skin of his face just sort of shriveled inward, where the second I should be. I reached out a hand as my broom drifted past him. His face felt cool to the touch, but it did not feel as though he were dead. It was soft, pliable, and not cold cold. On the other hand, I couldn't see evidence that he was breathing. Correction, I had just seen a single shallow breath.

My instinct, really my burning desire, was to rescue this poor man. Then I realized that the Stone had powers, and had chosen to leave him where he was. He was a major God, who presumably had the power to rescue himself from this predicament. I decided best not to do anything until I had a chance to confer with both the Stone and my many companions. I didn't like the idea of leaving his near-dead form just hanging there, but feared that releasing him might do greater harm. I needed guidance.

I thought THE Black Stone might have wanted me to stop here, but there was nothing other than Odin for me to cling to and I didn't want my weight to increase his suffering. There was no way that I could just hover here, and there were two other brooms following me. Since THE Black Stone hadn't spoken to me, I thought I needed to fly onward. I continued to fly around the perimeter of this Black Stone. I touched it, hoping that would send a stream of its thoughts coursing into me. It didn't. THE Black Stone felt comfortably warm to my touch, but that was it. It had the same mirror-smooth surface of my Black Stone. I decided that I must fly away from it. I had seen what it wanted me to see.

Throwing balls of light ahead of me, I turned from the Stone and headed toward the far shore. The lake was about a hundred feet wide, making the whole cavern close to a hundred-and-fifty feet across. As I reached the far shore, I made a left turn and zoomed along the shore. The shore soon vanished. I passed a point where water poured out of the wall in a short, spouting waterfall. I had to bear to my left to avoid drenching myself and Aagog. I continued to follow the wall of the cavern, noticing that the ceiling became a bit lower. I could tell that the high-water here went all the way to the ceiling. I think I had traveled about a mile, when the cavern, whose width had been gradually shrinking, suddenly was only a ten foot wide river, with a narrow ledge a few feed above the surface. I wanted to explore the course of what was likely a most magical little river, but I had more pressing concerns. I landed and walked ahead, giving space for my companions to alight.

I explained my doubts to Hermione. She said I had done the correct thing. "He's hung there for quite a while, a few more hours can't possibly matter. If The Black Stone is as powerful as you say, it could have killed Odin if it had wanted to. You are right to think that rash interference might cause very serious problems. Our entire group must discuss this before we act. This is a VERY big decision. See if The Black Stone is willing to tell you a little more. If you and I can chat through our Black Stone, perhaps you can talk to Odin through The Black Stone."

That made perfect sense. I sat on the narrow ledge and reached for THE Black Stone. I asked if I could contact Odin. I could. I asked Odin if he needed help to free himself of his captivity.

He answered **No, I am as you find me by my own choice. The spirit part of me ventures abroad and I support it from here. Fear not, you continue to serve me well. Think some more, before we speak at length. Go to your friends and tell them all that you have seen. That is how my fame and wisdom is spread. I shall explain more when you return. Later, you must hang here in my place. That will provide the answers to many of your questions. This is necessary, but I don't expect you to spend nearly as much time at this as I do. I find it most relaxing.**

I told Hermione what I had learned from Odin.

"Very interesting, but I think Odin is right, we need to apparate back to the surface to discuss all of this," Hermione insisted.

I tried to apparate back inside the observatory, but found that I kept feeling too much resistance to safely disapparate. I mentioned my problem to my companions, who were experiencing the same difficulty.

"The grassy area might be a better landing zone," Barb told us. "There might be strong magic inside the observatory, although Hermione was able to get inside and back out again."

"Agreed. We apparate on three, two, one, gone," I told my companions.

That worked. We were standing on the grass, facing the observatory. Only Cho, the Unicorns, and Cantring were on guard duty.

"Everyone wanted to see this inside of the observatory," Cho told us. "Professor McGonagall declared that she must see the observatory for herself, then everyone else just followed her in. I'm surprised they all fit. I thought I'd best stay here, since someone needed to watch for threats, although I guess Fawkes would alert us if she spotted one of the Aesir."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I know how to get them back out here," I told Cho. "I've always feared that the professors would refuse to follow my instructions. McGonagall sets a very bad example for my Questers."

"Professor Sturluson is arrogant, beyond belief," Hermione amplified my comment. "He and McGonagall just feed off each other. Professorial privilege and all that."

I walked to the door of the observatory and shouted, "hey all you guys who shouldn't be in here – I'm holding a meeting out on the grass. If you want to know what we found down the well, leave the observatory. Now!"

They followed me. I gave them all an only slightly censored version of events. They didn't all need to know everything which Odin and THE Black Stone had spoken to me. I told them everything I felt was important and necessary for deciding our next steps.

McGonagall and Professor Sturluson spoke in unison. "Is it safe? We want to see for ourselves."

"You need me to hunt for clues to the location of Yggdrasil," Professor Sturluson added. I think he puffed out his chest and almost glared at Hermione. "Really, our most important job here must be to find Yggdrasil. If you had studied Norse mythology, as I have my entire life, you would know how important Yggdrasil is. I can't over-emphasize its importance. It is what made Odin what he was. It was the foundation of all the worlds of Norse mythology. You must allow me to find it!"

"No problem," Hermione told him. "I have found Yggdrasil. You've seen it yourself, but failed to recognize it. Yggdrasil is indeed a metaphorical tree. I admit to one more big clue than you've had, but I feel confirmed in my belief that I am as capable of recognizing a metaphorical tree as you are. Making a study of prophesy will increase one's abilities in that direction."

Following his initial insult back on our world, Hermione certainly had adopted an aggressively competitive attitude toward the professor. I didn't think her Uncle Reg would be pleased.

The professor seemed more excited than offended. "Please explain," he pleaded.

"It's the Black Stone that you saw back inside our pyramid. It links all of the worlds. It is undoubtedly very ancient. Certainly older than Odin."

"What did you see down there? What was the final clue?"

We told him. We told them all.

"In my defense, you must admit that was a very large clue," the professor half-challenged Hermione.

"I admit it," she conceded.

I reached for Harry, so that he, Dad, and Tony would know what we had discovered. Dad and Tony thought I should pause further exploration until they and their advisors had the opportunity for a good chat. Tony told Harry that at times like this he regretted that his mythology expert was with me rather than back with Dad and him.

"Them's the breaks for insisting that I be this well chaperoned," I complained to Harry. "I wasn't eager to have the professor. He's pushing me to explore. You need to tell those with you that it may not be entirely safe for us, especially if Vili and Frijjo return. We need to see as much as we can as quickly as we can."

I was once again reminded of how lucky I am to have Harry, when he told me to go ahead and that he would make any necessary explanations to Dad and to Tony.

Brighid had just returned with the Cailleach. She was anxious to learn what we saw. After I told her, she was most eager to see for herself. So was everyone else.

I agreed that we would apparate Brighid, the Cailleach, Scathach, McGonagall, and the Professor. I saw the expanded party as additional fighting strength for the extended exploration I intended to conduct.

Cho suggested that I bring our last weasel, just in case we encountered more cockatrice. I felt this unnecessary, but told Cho if she wanted to bring the beast, that I would take the rooster. We were going where the sun don't shine, but I felt our wands could suffice to convince Mr. Rooster that he was seeing a sunrise.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter Fifty-Five – Show and Tell**

I agreed that the whole team could visit the underground lake. It was only fair. The Questers were seeking opportunities to learn and to grow personally, as well as to aid their communities. The lake and its Black Stone and Odin were a must-see stop on the Quest.

There were too many bodies to comfortably fit on the shore of that lake and I didn't want my whole team trapped below ground. Half must stand guard on the surface. Hermione would take command of the team members on the surface. She was determined to explore the forge. I told her to be safe. She had the rooster and the weasel, but I was taking Barb to help me apparate the rest of the team to the lake shore. Hermione needed some fighters. Scathach agreed to be her primary guard, while Cantring would provide archery cover. Everyone else insisted they needed to visit the lake immediately. Hermione and I had to pick those to stay behind.

I knew that one of Tony's representatives had to come with me. I left Commander Harkwright with Hermione and took Captain Davies. I agreed to take both Professors Sturluson and McGonagall. That reinforced my need for special fighters. I had no idea what sort of ravenous magical creatures lurked in the lake, but innocent Muggles straggling along the lake shore had to be a tempting target. Too many folks, bunched too tightly, meant someone standing right at the water's edge. Lax supervision – I expected to get wrapped up with Odin and the Stone – might even mean naked toes and feet dipped into the water.

Brighid was right: the Cailleach could put an end to any lake-creature nonsense with just one touch of her rod to the surface of the water. I must remind my team of the possible consequences of toes in water. Becoming stuck in a giant ice cube would not be pleasant.

I apparated with Aagog on my shoulders and hands joined with the two professors and the Cailleach. Barb apparated Cissy, Captain Davies, and Jaden, with Catta perched upon her shoulders. As soon as we arrived, I asked Aagog if she smelled any new company. She did not.

We transfigured hats into brooms and set off on a series of broom explorations. I felt that I was best able to transport Professor Sturluson. I had the best broom and I am the most skilled flyer. I also had the combat skills to apparate us back to the shore, before we crashed into the lake if something went badly wrong. McGonagall and Catta would be right behind us. The rest would guard the shore.

Of course both professors had to see Odin close up. Professor Sturluson wanted to touch him as we approached. I said no. It seemed very disrespectful for a Muggle professor to be pawing the less-sleeping-than-dead body of a major God, even one whom he had spent his entire career studying. I had touched Odin, but I am the Mother and it was necessary for me to make sure he still lived.

"Just one touch. I want to know he is alive," Professor Sturluson pleaded.

"No, it is disrespectful. I know he is alive. I'm telling you he is alive."

As we made a second pass, the professor accused me: "of course! You touched him yourself."

"It had to be done. I'm the Mother of the Future. We shouldn't make a habit of just pawing at a major God."

Yet one more pass, yet one more plea. Then surprise: "of course I live, you big ninny." Odin gave me a wink. "We must talk, Ginny. My spirit has rejoined me. Land beside the waterfall and I will join you."

"I'll dump us both in this lake if you try to take me back to the others. I swear I will. If you talk to Odin, I talk to Odin. I understand that this is your Quest. You must understand that this is the sum and substance of my whole life. Now, let's not keep Odin waiting." The professor shook the broom for emphasis.

It would have been so easy to just push him off, as he leaned far to one side. He was sabotaging me. 'Why not?' my dark side asked me. It would be the easiest way to learn once and for all what lived in the lake. I was good.

I directed McGonagall not to follow us. Surprisingly she actually obeyed me. I flew us to the skinny shore beside the waterfall, and landed. We didn't have to wait long. There was a very loud, theatrically loud, pop, and Odin was standing beside us.

"Welcome back. I must ask you: why did you attack us from the circle used to seize control of my Black Stone? Does that mean you're the one who sabotaged my Quest? Am I even safe standing here next to you?" I was nervous, perhaps a little frightened. I blurted – no excuse for it. I really needed Hermione, rather than Professor Sturluson, standing next to me at this moment. I could tell things were going badly. Odin gave me an odd look.

Then Professor Sturluson felt impelled to act. He reached out and touched Odin's cheek, quickly drawing his hand back, as he felt the warmth. "You're dead!" he accused. "The wolf killed you at Ragnarok. Explain yourself!"

I was looking right at his face, as Professor Sturluson realized exactly what he had blurted. He sort of hunkered within himself and moved several feet away from us, a frightened look on his face. To his credit, he didn't run. He knew that was futile.

Odin laughed. He even deigned to explain.

"My mystery is my own mortal life murdered

First hung from Yggdrasil then flayed by Fenrir

Death that defeats flesh deepens deity

Spirit soars sans body Odin's suffering

God-given greatness grows into actual Godness

Odin is his own harcrux over oblivion

Binding to Black Rock breaks boundaries of being

Here, yet not here. Whole not half-whole

Jaden-Jaden must join my spirit journey, just as Ginny

Must hang herself from Yggdrasil to honor and harvest knowledge

Generations of Jaden must join horharcrux genuflections to power."

I heard a loud bang and looked up to see that Jaden had joined us. Odin spread his hands, as if to say 'now you understand'. Except I didn't. Jaden was important. It had to do with there being two Jadens plus the harcrux in the bottle. She could be two places at once and another place in spirit. Odin seemed to be saying that Narcissa or Draco were also a big part of this. No, I just didn't understand enough. I was stupid. Too stupid to have brought Hermione with me.

I had a stupid professor trying to help me. He didn't understand any better than I, but he was determined to speak.

"Yes! I can tell that you must truly be Odin. But by my great-great's word, you died at Ragnarok."

Odin was far more understanding than I would have been, if I were a major God. He adopted a most patient expression and launched into a further explanation.

"Shamanistic Seeresses use seid to spin safety

Frijjo's female magic frays future's foundations and re-forms them

Sensitive Odin sees seid and soul-slides to safer side of space

Male-female Odin world-walk or soul-slide, too slippery to slay

Bound to Black, bound to beyond, bound to brother-sister-wife-husband

Dead Odin defies death to do-over and do-over again

Whilst my spirit wanders, Frijjo weaves warp through weft 'til Oden is one whole"

"Of course!" the professor exclaimed. "Odin practices seid. The future is not fixed. As long as part of Odin lives, the future may always be rewritten to meet his needs. He was belittled for stooping to practice female magic, but in seid lay part of his strength."

It was fortunate that one of us understood. Professor Storluson could explain to Hermione and she could explain to me.

Odin made a gesture to me, which suggested that he was finished with the professor and what he would say next must be for my ears only. At least, I guessed that's what he meant. I needed to be back in charge.

I pointed my wand at the professor and softly spoke "off!". I caught him as he crumpled to the ground. Odin's expression suggested that I had done as he wished. I stepped around the fallen professor and sat shoulder to lower rib-cage with Odin. It was time. I needed answers. I thought he was friend, rather than foe, but I had to know. Why had he attacked us?

"Frijjo weaves prophecy to Odin's measure

You Quest for my life, not some useless treasure

The attack on you was not by me

But by a mutual enemy

I don't traffic in demonic possession

That is enough to answer your question

I fixed that circle, because it was broken

You acted on your own, my orders weren't spoken

An ancient evil captured your circle and Stone

With the circle broken it leaves Stone alone

I was unaware of that when I acted most rashly

The Demons were sent and the Stone captured by Loki

Without beast or spear, I came unarmed

By my hand was none of you harmed

You know that Loki hid outside and let you pass

Why? It was I who arrived to save your ass."

I thought to Odin through his Stone, begging him to just speak to me like a normal person or at least to directly pour his thoughts into my mind, so that I wasn't bogged down by silly rhyme. Of course I didn't think 'silly' to Odin. I thought something like 'very elevated and beyond what my poor Hogwarts-educated mind can understand. Really, I just didn't want Odin and me to turn into Sean and me all over again. In my heart, I knew that McGonagall was correct and that the fault was Hogwarts's own, for teaching so little of Muggle culture, for even neglecting the pagan roots of my own magical people. I couldn't know what I was never taught.

To Odin's great surprise, I slapped the side of my own head, as my cry rang out inside it. 'Of course you can learn what you aren't taught. Hermione does so every day of her life. There are books. You can read. You merely lack the necessary curiousity.'

I was quite sure these thoughts came from myself and not from Odin I was further convinced when Odin actually spoke to me through the Stone.

**Summon your Muse. We three must talk. Tell her to stop mucking about with my property. There is no need to damage it. I am not a threat. Frijjo is not a threat. I hope that Vili is not a threat to either of us, but I must think upon that. Loki's boldness is most odd. He is evil, but he is such a pitiful little minor God. He serves another. We must discover that other. I know you suspect the other is it who chained the White Stone of Azkaban. The echoes of that enslavement have rung through all of my worlds. Better still, don't summon your Muse. You, I, and this one shall travel to Valaskjalf. It is too long since I have sat upon my throne, eaten from my own table, or slept with my own Frijjo.**

I linked hands with Odin, while grabbing hold of the professor's wrist. I reached for an empty spot on the lawn, somewhere close to the observatory entrance. I had never actually come close to apparating into a solid object in any of my prior apparations. I knew what an obstacle felt like, from the training that Bill the auror had provided me back at Hogwarts, over a year ago. This was worse – much worse. I didn't realize that if you pushed just a little too hard, that a solid object could literally suck you in. I was sucked away from safety. I tried frantically to instantly think of another safe location. My mind froze.

I fell a good twelve inches onto solid stone. I heard the professor's body hit stone after falling a little farther than that. I opened my eyes and saw I was standing in the forge, with Hermione staring at me in puzzlement.

**My bad! I just assumed that as a major God, I would be the one steering our little journey. I know your disposition well enough that I should have known you would have a different assumption. Two pilots make for problems. Luckily, you are weaker than me, so we all still live. Your Muse wants to know what just happened. It would be polite to introduce me.**

I introduced him as 'our ally, the real Odin'. I told Hermione that Odin wanted to speak with us, but was upset that she was mucking with his property.


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter Fifty-Six – We Dine With Odin**

Hermione admitted that she had 'fixed' both the circle inside the forge and one of the White Columns. Confronted by criticism from a major God, she held her ground and was unapologetic. "We were attacked. Prior to that we were deceived into believing that Vili was actually you. One of our Questers was drugged and is now with child by Vili. We were given a suicide mission under false pretense. Prior to that our Quest was sabotaged by someone who took over are Black Stone and gave us malicious instructions, which resurrected the nastiest, most evil and vicious Wizard of all time. We had ample reason to act to safeguard our own world from invasion. Had I more time, I would have fixed I'm sorry that we were forced to kill your cockatrice. I'm sure they make fine guard pets."

She did not offer to fix the damage to Odin's property. Nor did he press her on that matter. He did feel the need for a bit of an explanation, tailored to her personality and concerns. I think he felt hampered by my plea that he stop addressing me in either old Norse or more modern rhyming poetic speech. I think I had offended him and lowered my own standing in his eyes.

"You speak of me as one who would harm you

I mean no harm - I plead for life, for help

I'm friend, I'm God, I'm he and she who guides you

Vili can err, am I to blame for it?

The cockatrice ain't mine, that be Vili

He takes my place, but I not say he may

Frijjo she be my chosen representative

Frijjo and Vili be okay but not nice

Vili and Quester defy Odin's power

Odin's the only master of Questing

With Vili it's only a matter of jesting

(And bed the guest whom I should be choosing)

I hide, world-walk and leave my throne to Vili

Your Quest is mine, I don't betray its purpose

You Quest, you serve, you save your Odin

You learn, you grow, you hurt, I help you win

You're fooled, you're felled, turned back, I save your ass

Now who take place of pregnant Quester?

You know old Odin gonna' bed her"

"Well it certainly won't be me," Hermione answered him. "And I'm a very modern Witch. There is no need to speak to me in blank verse. We just don't speak like that now – I don't need you to speak in cadence to hold my attention. I get your meaning. You say it's all Vili's fault. You've been helping us and now you expect your reward. Bull shit!"

Odin laughed – a real belly laugh. He was smiling. He gave Hermione one final short verse, before changing back to prose.

"the cock-a-trice

it ain't so nice

one look and you be

murdered in a trice…

Is that modern enough for you? I speak as I am expected to speak. It is my reputation. I really only do it for ceremony or when I first meet one as gifted as yourself. I know, I know. Hogwarts does not teach poetry. I embarrass you. Ginny told me of Sean who made her feel illiterate, before he nearly killed her. I will speak as you speak. You should know that it is bad form to bed a Muse or her Mother. That's a sure way to ruin a Quest. Surely someone else in your party will wish to do me the honor. It's not often a lucky Witch comes across a major God. Perhaps the most intriguing Jaden?"

Unfortunately, Jaden was included in our lunch with Odin. We ate in the large eating room, where we had dines with Vili and Frijjo.

I felt uncomfortable enough about Odin's poem that I told Jaden she was permitted zero wine or spirits with her meal. I was determined to watch far more closely over my flock in the presence of this particular God. Adrienne would be a once and done failure. That had been my fault.

Odin explained his pronounced interest in detail, not dwelling on the salacious bits in her presence.

"You all learned from Voldemort and now from Slytherin that a horcrux can guard its owner from what would otherwise be certain death. You also know that a horcrux can't protect against damage from a killing curse. It preserves life – barely. This is true if you have one or seven. You also have clear evidence that the evil done to create a horcrux is extremely damaging to the spirit and sanity of the person who creates it. There can be no such thing as a good owner of a horcrux. Despite his fascination with the power of the horcrux, Voldemort understood little more about it than Slytherin did. Yes, it preserves life against what would otherwise be a killing curse, but this is the least of its powers.

"The greatest power of the horcrux is that it allows its owner's spirit to freely venture apart from the body. Not even a body is required. The horcrux itself is sufficient anchor for the wandering spirit. This wandering spirit can observe, it can communicate, it can even fight. You have achieved this by different, but similar means using what you presumptuously call YOUR Black Stone. You have used the Stone to launch your spirits to far-flung other worlds and have even merged your spirit with the Stone – merged so thoroughly that physical bits of the Stone became permanent parts of your body, merged so thoroughly that the Stone performed delicate surgery upon you. At that time you even merged your physical body with the Stone.

"Slytherin and Voldemort thought the horcrux the most powerful magical device. It's not. The Stones and columns and some magical circles naturally are more powerful. Beyond that, the harcrux is more powerful than the horcrux. Furthermore, its owner is degraded in spirit, mind, and body not one whit by the creation of one or even more than one harcrux.

"It is very hard to deliberately create a harcrux. In Jaden's case, the harcrux was involuntary, but that dilutes its power not at all. That is why what you call harcrux-Jaden is a fully formed young Witch capable of attending Hogwarts as a normal student. She and what you call body-Jaden, sitting here - except for differences in memories based upon the time they slept and their separate experiences since awakening, they are identical to each other.

"There is yet a third Jaden. I will call her bottle-Jaden. She is the remnant of the harcrux you found in the museum. I trust you still have the relic?"

I nodded in the affirmative and Odin looked pleased.

"That relic is still enough of a harcrux to anchor spirit Jaden as she wanders through the many worlds of my realm. It's not as strong an anchor as her body is, but it will do. More to the point, the anchor serves to protect both harcrux-Jaden and body-Jaden. This Jaden seated beside me, who never dwelled in that relic, can use it to launch a spirit journey from Asgard, even though the relic is in your world. Amazing isn't it? Such is the value of the harcrux. Our body-Jaden here has her life doubly guarded by the relic and her younger harcrux-twin back in your world. That will make her a very powerful spirit warrior. She needs to be trained up to her potential, but the potential is enormous. Now do you understand why Jaden is so special?"

I admitted that I did. Hermione concurred.

"Good. There's more. I mentioned generations of Jaden. It is not by accident that Jaden's daughter is attempting to Quest. Not only is Narcissa half-Jaden… you do understand that much science, do you not?"

Odin looked right at me as he said this, as if he assumed that both Hermione and Jaden could be counted upon to have learned this.

"Of course I understand simple genetic inheritance," I bristled. "I may not have studied poetry, but I am not entirely un-schooled."

"Or plays, or novels, or music, or architecture, or much of Muggle history, or mathematics, or… well I need not belabor the point. Please try not to be so defensive. It is not your fault. You grew up in very unsettled times and Hogwarts provides a truly crap education. Hermione learned what she learned as a Muggle. Jaden is simply more intellectually curious than you are. But… you are possessed of most remarkable abilities and knowledge, which I promise I will come to, in due course.

"Now where was I? Oh yes, Narcissa is, as you say half, Jaden genetically, but she also experienced the harcruxification of Jaden before she was born. She also carries some of Jaden's and her own harcrux protection. Yes, somewhere there is a Narcissa harcrux. It was created at the same time as harcrux-Jaden. Although Narcissa doesn't know of its existence, she is connected to and protected by it. When you return to your world, you must find that harcrux. I have no idea where it is.

"There are other peculiarities about Narcissa. The other half of her is pre-horcruxification Tom Riddle. He was twisted, but not an abomination at the time, and his genetics were good. That adds magical power to Narcissa. Power that really does descend all the way from Slytherin – which also puts Narcissa in great danger from Slytherin.

"Now the strangest part. The other bits of spirit tied up in Narcissa. You know about the Voldemort horcrux. Forgive Firenze, his intuition was entirely correct in acting to destroy that horcrux. He meant you no ill. 'Your' Black Stone was in full control of its faculties when it and Firenze agreed that course. What you don't know, really no way you could know, is that the Narcissa who walks among you harbors the harcrux of another. Can you guess whose harcrux she carries?"

He stopped, as if I had been given enough clues and he would await my mental processes. I couldn't escape the feeling that I was being tested.

"Excuse my manners, I did invite you here to dine. Please!"

As he said 'please! Good-sized bowls of something that smelled like hot, richly-spiced pumpkin soup appeared in front of us. I was grateful. I was hungry and I needed time to solve the puzzle which Odin had set for me. I was quite sure that I could work it out, but before I managed a solution, Hermione blurted.

"It's Harry, isn't it. Yes, it must be!"

"Indeed it is!" Odin focused all his attention and delight upon my Muse, before turning to me to comment, "which is why you must protect Narcissa. At least that is what you must do if you love your husband half as much as I believe you do. I'm sure of it. It's written all over your face at this moment. Why… you're even blushing – quite becomingly. If I weren't so acutely aware of the perils of dalliances between myself and the Mothers who pass through my realm…

"I digress. Let it suffice to say that I permitted Narcissa to Quest. Her Quest was properly ordained by me, decades prior to your own. It is in the weft of my dear Frijjo's web. You must help Narcissa. To help her is to serve me.

"The last part of Narcissa's story is her son Draco. His story on the grand magical stage is almost complete. He is yet to father a son, whom Frijjo tells me is of some great importance. He is also raising another child of great importance. Your friend Luna is helping him in that endeavor. For a short while longer, it is important that she continue doing that. She must see to the child's early religious education. Will you agree to stop trying to thwart Narcissa's Quest and to help her to succeed? Quests are a learning experience and a chance to serve me. It is not either/or which of you 'wins'. You both can win, and I can win doubly, even if neither of you finishes all the stops on your journey."

"I promise to help her," I told Odin. It pained me only a little to make this promise. She carried a piece of Harry. I had to help that piece prosper. This was a very disconcerting development. I couldn't just leave it at that.

"Are you certain that Draco's children are important? He isn't even Erin's biological father."

"Your turn to surprise me – I didn't know that. I'll ask Frijjo. Of course it isn't certain. This far in the future, we deal in likelihoods, for the most part. If Frijjo were very sure, you'd have heard of a prophecy. Neither of us has, so it's just a likelier-than-normal possibility. Not the likelihood that Frijjo assigns to your prophecies. Frijjo always weaves to improve my future. What you do on your Quest can change the future, for good or for bad."

"Then we don't have to assist Draco and his family?"

"I didn't say that. I merely admitted that I exaggerated a little in what I originally said. Let me say what I definitely know – your family and Draco's are linked for the entirety of your lifetime."

"I don't need a prophecy to tell me that. You were going to tell me something about myself."

"Yes. Your roast boar is here right now. Finish your meal and I'll tell you what I know."


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 57 – Odin Talks About Me**

"Now that you've finished the main course, I can tell you a bit about yourself, before we have our dessert. That way, if you don't enjoy what I have to say, you can cleanse your palate with the dessert. It's tiramisu, by the way, I know you like that. Mine comes from a small northern village in the Greece of your world."

"Fine, I admit to being intrigued."

"First, you also have good genetics. Your father is just about the cleverest Wizard going and your mother is a unique combination of fierce and extremely loving and nurturing. All of your brothers toughened you up and brought out your natural courage. I must tell you that you are over-compensating with the risk-taking, great-fighter thing. You were humiliated when your parents didn't permit you to finish your sixth-level year at Hogwarts. They felt there was no education to be had there, under those conditions, but you took it as their declaration that you were too weak and poor at self-defense to survive there without embarrassing the rest of your clan. Your parents know you are fiercely brave and almost always itching for a fight. That is not a good character trait for a Mother of the Future or a Light Guardian Priestess. You've been warped in the redeem-myself-by-fighting-and-prove-myself-by-exacting-revenge trap, even longer than your brother Ron.

"No… please don't interrupt me, I'll lose my train of thought. My allies and I have had our eyes upon you for a long time. Partly we watched you, because of how Frijjo had woven you into our common future, but before that, Frijjo focused upon you because of what we already knew about you.

"I've already spoken much of horcrux and harcrux, and these subjects touch upon your life as well. Not only did you fall in love with a wee lad holding a nasty horcrux, but you had your own very personal encounter with the Tom Riddle horcrux. I know of no other recent case of a person being totally taken over by a horcrux. You conversed with it, you were open to its suggestions, it briefly seized control of your mind, it taught you parseltongue – ultimately it became so much a part of you that it extracted your very spirit and life-force to almost fully corporealize itself. I've researched extensively, but found no other example remotely approaching that of Tom and yourself. Next to Jaden, you have been far closer to Tom than any other living being. In some ways you were closer than Jaden was.

"Your first-level adventure certainly put you at the top of my list of Witches to keep my eyes upon. Yes, I have many substitutes for the natural eye which I sacrificed. Harry won your heart forever by risking his life to slay the horcrux – his last dying effort being to plunge the basilisk fang which was killing him into the lethal book, which was killing you. Tom collapsed and you were almost instantly rejuvenated. Fawkes' tears saved your Harry. There has been an unbreakable bond between you and Harry ever since. But, let me ask you – surely you've thought of what happened in first level many times – what do you think really happened? What is the significance of those events?"

"I don't know. Of course I've thought of it. For years I dwelt upon it almost every day. I know it deepened my love for Harry. I also know that it made me feel weaker, more helpless, stupider, and more unworthy of Harry than I have ever felt. When I think back on that time, I feel mainly relief and intense shame. That should have been the end of my life. Happily it wasn't."

"A most superficial understanding and totally unworthy of your intellect and, might I add, your natural courage. Yes, courage! You have been a coward, too weak to look past your shame to understand what actually happened to you."

"Yes, I admit that I don't enjoy thinking about that time. But what more is there? Yes, I can see some of the things I suspected. My whisper-link with Harry was forged in the Chamber of Secrets, wasn't it? And when I sent the snake back to my attacker – the parseltongue I used – it came from Tom Riddle, not from the Light Guardian knowledge."

"True and true, but still escaping the heart of the matter. Think! All of the life force had been drained from you – enough to animate a good-sized mature Wizard out of the dry parchment of a book. Then Harry kills horcrux-Riddle – where do you suppose all that life-force and spirit went?"

"Back into me?"

"Of course it went back into you. It snapped back into you faster than you can snap your fingers, and with no fine control whatsoever. Otherwise, you never could have survived. You were, for a long hour, intimately linked with Riddle – whole spirit to flake of spirit, mind to mind. Your very body digested your last meal to supply more power for Tom. The horcrux-Riddle was like a dozen Dementors, sucking your spirit and life-force out of you. Have you seen anyone who just barely survived a Dementor attack? Yes, you have. You've seen Belatrix and you've seen Sirius Black. Such an attack leaves a very recognizable mark. You don't bear that mark. Have you never wondered why?"

"I have always wondered why I came out of the Chamber feeling strangely whole, empowered and happy. I always put it down to knowing that Harry cared enough to risk all to save me. I know that by all rights, I should have been horribly messed up for years, at the very least."

"You shared your spirit with more than Tom, during your time in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry was literally willing you to live. As Fawkes poured curative phoenix tears onto Harry, Harry's touch transferred some of his love and his own dwindling life force, as well as the curative powers of the phoenix tears and a little of Harry's mother's protection to you. That preserved your sanity and your goodness, allowing you to wall of the little bit of Tom Riddle's spirit that was sucked back into you, along with your own. It also primed you to be an excellent spiritual wanderer and warrior. Your spirit was already labile, due to the work of Tom."

"So, I also carry a Voldemort horcrux within me?"

"I can't be sure that you did at that time. It was the most reasonable hypothesis, but it means nothing now. When you became one with your Black Rock, as when you were transported to the first destination of your Quest, that bit of Tom would have been destroyed, just as it was with Narcissa. You certainly have no piece of Tom now, and that is what matters most. You may have a small piece of Harry as a harcrux - I hate to speculate. That incident in the Chamber is most intriguing. Harry lingered a very long time after having been bitten by the basilisk – a truly operatic almost-death. Certainly with all of our talk of horcruxes, you have some new thoughts on that topic."

"Tom didn't know that Harry was also a Voldemort horcrux. Do you think that is what saved Harry, before Fawkes did his thing?"

"I think it's more than possible. All of you were linked far more closely than any of you knew at the time through competing horcruxes. The two horcruxes linked through your body, while Fawkes was linked to Harry and Dumbledore to Fawkes – it's quite the confusion of spirits. Likely you and Harry did exchange pieces of your spirits. It's all terribly romantic: a piece of you traveled with Harry when he walked to meet death at the hands of Voldemort - that little piece may have been what saved him. It's something to muse about. To end the thought, unfortunately for re-animating horcrux Tom, he was the only being still chained to the book, so he couldn't survive the general happy sharing. That's the best I can explain it. It's possible there was something else unique to you that predates your time at Hogwarts. I have no answer to that question."

"So I have a harcrux! That explains how I survived an 'Avada Kedavra' to the base of my spine."

"You most certainly have a harcrux. Harry may also be a harcrux of yours. For certain, what you call your Black Stone is now your harcrux. You are by no means the first of your kind whom that Stone has served in that manner.

"So, having learned what I could from your experience in the Chamber of Secrets, it was only natural that I should both alert Frijjo about you and keep watch upon you. I saw what a brave and determined fighter you are. I saw your intelligence and the love you carry. I spoke again to Frijjo. Frijjo spun her web, you learned of your various prophecies, those prophecies imbued you with purpose, and led you to your encounter in the Sacred Cavern, where the Light Guardian launched you fully upon your current path. It is no surprise whatsoever that you were chosen to lead this Quest.

"There is a small problem… one less good than me and the Light Guardian has also learned of you, already knows far too much about you. Worst case: our mutual enemy knows everything about you which you ever shared with your Black Stone. I fear that may be quite a lot."

That was quite the understatement. Having been one with the Stone and the Stone having fixed my head, I assumed there was nothing about me that the Stone didn't know, other than the secrets I had hoarded after my Quest started so badly. Another thought sprung to my mind.

"So, I've been shedding little pieces of my spirit. Am I going to end up like Voldemort did?"

"No, no there is no fear of that happening. A harcrux is good and doesn't impair that part of the spirit that remains. Your spirit is like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. You have long since more than replaced the little pieces of spirit that you shed."

A quite large piece of tiramisu sat on a silver plate in front of me, a mug of rich, highly fragrant coffee at its side. Dessert time had arrived. On impulse, I demanded of Odin: "now do Hermione…please!"

"Alright, why shouldn't Hermione share in the fun? She is very simple compared to you and Jaden. She is an extremely intelligent Witch, even brighter than Jaden. She grew up not quite fitting into the Muggle world, her magical gift making her progressively more different, which made her progressively more isolated from the other children. She thought herself hideously plain, which only increased her difficulty. She escaped into her books and into her natural curiosity for virtually everything. Brilliant, plain, strange, curious, inherently sweet and good, driven to succeed by her own terms – that combination was bound to produce something very much like your present Muse. There's not a lot of super insight I can share with you. Yes, I've watched Hermione. I watched Harry and when he crossed paths with Hermione…

"Well, perhaps I should explain that to you, since you were too besotted with Harry at the time to notice. Hermione was terribly lonely. She was coming to a totally new world in which she didn't expect to fit in at all. She spotted the rambunctious, loving Weasley family on the platform and couldn't help noticing that you had all befriended Harry. She saw Harry and Ron on the train and sat with them. Needing friends, she grasped for dear life upon the shreds of acceptance they provided. One with few friends must desperately cling to those one has. In clinging to Harry and Ron, Hermione kept them together, even more so than your mother did. I know, that's a trite repeat of what you already know. Hermione has a complicated mind, which is uncomplicated by magical traumas. Of course the Stone is also her harcrux. Of course the Light Guardian has also adopted her and ordered me to watch out for her as I watch out for you. I am a major God, not an ultimate God – I do have orders, which I must follow. I've delayed enough. I must talk of Vili and Frijjo and Loki.

"I must admit that there was an ulterior motive, beyond showing off, in all this discussion of spirits and harcruxes. Vili told you at least one truth: you do have to travel to the Beyond as a spirit. My Valkyrie are trapped and they must be free. Vili told you a second truth: I am not welcome in the Beyond."


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter Fifty-Eight – Vili and Frijjo and Loki… and McGonagall**

"As I've already told you, Frijjo and Vili have my approval to fill in for me, when I commune with the Black Stone or go wandering. There are limits to what they may do in my absence. Impersonating me most certainly is not approved… I don't see how one as intelligent and well-educated as Hermione could possibly be fooled by Vili. Perhaps I over-estimated you. Nor are Frijjo or Vili permitted to order up, authorize, or direct a Quest. Vili most certainly is not permitted to have sex with a Quester. He absolutely is not permitted to deliberately impregnate her. That is awful! If I went through the whole history of the problems caused by various half-Godlings in yours and the other worlds of my realm… well it would be clear to you what a huge problem Vili has caused for all of us.

"I have seen her image in my ravens' minds and Adrienne is most lovely. Sirens can have an irresistible appeal. I only mildly blame Vili for giving in to his lust, but deliberately siring a half-God? That is an unforgiveable act for a lesser God than myself. I assure you that I have learned my lesson and avoided that sort of thing for many centuries. I agree with you: your Adrienne was drugged, which means that at least Vili acted deliberately. He well knew the magnitude of his offense, so he must think his daring offers him the possibility of very great reward. There is only one explanation possible: Vili is allied with another power, who wants Adrienne's half-Godling for some treacherous purpose. That is why Vili has fled. What I don't know, and what my ravens have been unable to tell me, is whether Frijjo plotted with Vili in this matter. I choose to think that she did not, but Frijjo is something of an obsession for me."

"I think we might understand your family politics better, if you told us why Ve is no longer present," Hermione said very calmly, for what was a very provocative statement, if Odin's purpling face was to be credited.

"I pardon you, because you don't know the rules. We never speak of Ve. That was a very long time ago. I don't see how it could possibly matter today."

"Sorry, but if you expect us to go Questing into BeyondWorld on practically a suicide mission to benefit some scheme of yours, which we can't begin to understand, and if our futures have been woven by a Frijjo who fled with Vili, then I think we must talk about Ve."

There was a long silence. It wasn't yet painful, but it certainly was filled with menace, as Odin's face said he was beyond anger, but trying to decide how he should respond to an impertinent young Witch whose service he still required.

Odin gradually regained his composure. His face returned to its normal hue. When he finally spoke, I was taken so much by surprise that I almost burst out in laughter, which certainly would have totally messed things up.

"I know that Ginny loves to eat and would like a second dessert. I have crème brulee, brought from France in your world. I think I should summon your Professor McGonagall to join us for a second dessert and coffee. I think espresso this time."

In a pop, Odin was gone, leaving Hermione and me to look at each other with bemusement.

"That was very bold of you," I told my Muse. "I assume that there is a very important reason to push on that subject."

"Legend has it that Ve and Frijjo also were lovers. It is said…"

There was another pop and Odin was back, with McGonagall. He sat her beside me, graciously waved a hand, and we were endowed with crème brulee and espresso. Apparently Odin had just grabbed up McGonagall, without explanation. She looked totally confused, but also seemed very interested to find out what happened next.

Odin quickly explained why he had brought McGonagall to us. "Apologies, for so abruptly interrupting your investigation of my forge, but I thought it would serve all our interests, and perhaps avoid a nasty confrontation, if you joined us for dessert. You are not only the Muse for the second sanctioned Quest, but also the professor of these impudent young Witches you see before you. Perhaps your presence will remind them of proper manners when dining with a major God. I thought it might also remind them that I am not entirely dependent upon them to do my bidding. I suspect that you and Narcissa might help me, with far fewer prying questions."

"I very much doubt it. It seems I have become a risk-taking, bold, old Witch. As for Hermione and Ginny - I've not had much influence upon their behavior this past year, but I'm happy to sit and share dessert with you. Might I inquire about the particular impertinence in question?"

"This one," Odin actually thrust his forefinger in the direction of Hermione's nose, "insists that I speak of my brother Ve. I haven't spoken of Ve for many centuries. It is a most painful topic – it was a most hurtful betrayal by two whom I gave my total trust and protection."

"Ve is his youngest brother. Ve and Frijjo were lovers, when Odin went wandering. They ruled in Odin's place, while he was away. One time, something clearly went wrong. Odin has forgiven Frijjo, but not Ve, just as now he is blaming his other brother, Vili, but not Frijjo for what happened, when we visited Asgard," Hermione explained to McGonagall.

"I'm happy to talk to you about our current situation and about what needs to be done in the Beyond, but Ve is not a topic I will discuss. Accept that or return to your world. You've done nothing to earn my trust."

"I think we choose to end our Quest," I told Odin. "I don't intend to be led around into extremely dangerous situations, as if I'm an idiot. I trusted your brother, whom I thought was you, and that ended badly."

"Can we leave Ve alone, at least for the moment, and discuss things that are actually pertinent to your worries, your Quest, and my needs?"

"Alright. Vili and Frijjo said we had to go - actually they suggested that Frijjo would come with us - to BeyondWorld to retrieve a purple diamond, which was vital to your or Vili's ability to observe and superintend the many worlds of this realm. That diamond was also supposed to be the thing trapping your Valkyrie in BeyondWorld. While considering a plan to retrieve this essential diamond, and seeing little chance of surviving that quest, we just happen to find a purple diamond powering the magical circle which was used to seize control of MY Black Stone. We take that to Vili. Imagine how surprised we were when you showed up to re-power that renegade circle with yet another purple diamond. It certainly seems like we were being pushed into a suicidal mission to BeyondWorld to steal a purple diamond that you and your brother already had two of. Can you explain that?"

"I've always had the purple diamond that I brought to the circle-between-worlds. I don't need a diamond to be brought to me from Beyond, at least I didn't, before you destroyed my diamond. Perhaps I do need it now. There was a series of very similar purple diamonds, faceted exactly the same way, and known to exist for at least three millennia. They are very useful for building a particular type of magical circle – an advanced design of great power, despite its compact size. I've used my diamond in circles of my own design. None of them was permanent. They served their purpose, I took my diamond back, and I left the circle operating with less power using an inferior central gem. Both Vili and Frijjo knew of my diamond. Vili thought it part of the source of my power. He never could understand that knowledge is the primary source of my power. I'm not advocating sloth, but shear determination cannot overpower great knowledge. Those who believe in such things are easily tempted to believe in the ultimate, supernatural power of a purple diamond. I assure you that the diamonds' power is both very real and very finite.

"Vili and Frijjo were left to research and solve the problem of my Valkyrie, while I hung, thought, and wandered in search of my own solution. It's possible they learned of a connection between one of the purple diamonds and the imprisonment of the Valkyrie. The diamond itself couldn't imprison a band of mighty Valkyrie, but it might enhance a circle, tied to the dark power of what you call BeyondWorld and we call Hel. That circle could possibly enslave my dearest allies. It is a shame Vili and Frijjo didn't stay to tell me what they had discovered about Hel."

"So then we don't have to go to Beyond World or Hel to find a purple diamond? Why then must we go? And why can't you go yourself? You are far more powerful than we are." I thought Hermione made sense. Odin disagreed.

"YOU MUST GO TO FREE MY VALKYRIE! For one so intelligent, I didn't think I would have to say this so many times. I must have my Valkyrie back. I must have the spirits of the brave warriors, who keep dying and being stolen by the keepers of Hel! I must prepare for Ragnarok! As the keeper of Valhalla, I am naturally loathed in Hel as its most bitter enemy. I would be spotted and swarmed the instant I set foot in that infernal place."

"I am confused," I told him. "Professor Sturluson says that Ragnarok already happened, you were killed, and the world went on just fine. What's more, I think we already killed the great Werewolf, which supposedly slew you at Ragnarok."

"Which is yet another reason that the two of you are leading a Quest. Did I not explain? Frijjo weaves the future. She weaves many futures. Ragnarok has happened and it will happen again. Frijjo's weaving does no more than give good, thinking magical creatures of the light another chance to survive. If I keep dying at Ragnarok, Frijjo can't re-write history forever. There will be a final Ragnarok. Either our side will be strong enough to win, or the universe returns to dark chaos and the end of all magical creatures who think. I thought you had figured that out. Despite how badly you feel you have been treated by Vili or Frijjo or even by me, it is important that you help me defeat the forces of dark chaos. We do have a common enemy to defeat. This talk of Ve is a pointless distraction."

"So," I asked Professor McGonagall, "Are you and Narcissa ready to replace our team and take your Quest to BeyondWorld?"

"It sounds very daunting and ill-defined," McGonagall admitted.

"I would feel much more comfortable with two Quest teams readied for the task," Odin declared. "Yours is first. You have the most capable team and your team has completed several practice missions. It would be foolhardy to just throw Narcissa's team into Hel. I explained the significance of this mission. We must give ourselves the best possible chance of success. That is both teams, beginning with yours."

"No," Hermione replied. "We can't possibly have the best possible chance of success if you persist in withholding important information from us, just to spare yourself a little embarrassment."

"I don't withhold information to spare myself embarrassment. I withhold information to avoid having to kill you after you complete your mission. Some secrets must stay secret. It is not pride, it is real danger that I protect against. The more who know the secret, the more who can unleash the most extreme danger of the secret."

"Vili and Frijjo know the secret, and they're missing," Hermione declared with absolute certainty.

Odin was silent for half a minute. He then told Hermione, "it is late and I shall go to bed. There is much planning to do in the morning. Unless one of you intends to join me in my sleeping chamber, I suggest it is time for you to return to your companions."

"There is still the matter of Loki," Hermione told him. "The Werewolf who killed you is of Loki's family. It was Loki who attacked us at the red grass entrance to the pyramid-between-worlds. Loki is your enemy. I suspect that Ve and Loki were allied and that Vili and Frijjo are plotting with him, even as you sit with us, hiding the truth. I'm not risking my life on a stupid journey to Hel, based upon the little that Vili and you have told us. This might be a vital mission for you and your world and your precious Valkyrie, but my concern is my own world and my friends and family."

"You are brilliant, but foolish. If I fail, your world will be no more. You and your friends and family will be no more. There will be no future. All of these worlds were fashioned from chaos using the body of an ice giant, whom I and my brothers slew. There are no more ice giants. If this cycle ends, there will not be another. Thinking magical creatures will be gone, forever, as if they never existed. Isn't it worth your piddling life to stop that from happening?"

Hermione just stared him down.

"Alright, Ve and Loki were allies. Ve stole one of the purple diamonds and gave it to Loki. He took Frijjo with him. I said that he could borrow her, not keep her. She is my, more than consort. Loki craves power and Ve might have given it to him. Loki is a jumped-up, weak, minor God, who believes he must rule Asgard or destroy it in the attempt. He is mad. He thinks he can survive the great chaos. He can't. Nothing can. I loved Ve more than I have ever loved anything or anyone, but I couldn't allow his betrayal to destroy Asgard... and your world. A great God must make sacrifices for the greater good. Some sacrifices hurt far more than others. Believe me, I've made my sacrifices to preserve our shared worlds. You must be prepared to do the same. We fight together, or we die together... really we just disappear from existence together, as if we all held hands and disapparated into the void. That is possible, you know. You churn, and tumble, and stretch, and retch, but you never reach a destination, because no destination remains in existence.

"Now, I must get my rest. Join me, or return to team. I will say no more to you on this day. I fear you have already goaded me to say too much. You still know barely little enough that you may be permitted to live - it is a very close thing."


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter Fifty-Nine – Everyone Wants To Know What We Learned**

As Odin had insisted, we returned to our team. My first apparate took us to the bridge, just outside the side door of the silver palace. I wanted to have a quick chat with Hermione, Jaden, and McGonagall before meeting with everybody else. I also wanted to bring Harry up to date on what we had learned.

I sat on the bridge and the others formed a tight circle around me. We were shoulder to shoulder, whispering to prevent Odin's prying ears from learning our business.

"You pushed Odin far more than I would dare to." McGonagall seemed complimentary. "He could have squashed us like bugs. What is it that you think you know?"

"Ve is alive. Odin holds him prisoner and views him as very dangerous. The ancient sagas say that Ve is the religious/spiritual brother, who represents the holy. How could a holy man be such a threat to Odin? Likely by being able to convince others of Odin's selfish unholiness and by offering himself as a more ethical leader and a more dependable leader who isn't prone to disappearing for extended periods. Most of all, probably by convincing the rest of the Aesir that Ragnarok doesn't carry the ultimate significance that Odin gives it. Possibly even by convincing the others that Odin is at least a little bid mad.

"Yes, Odin has the strength to crush us, but he can't do that, because he needs us. He struck me as desperate. He's lost Vili and Frijjo and certainly has more vivid fears of what they may be up to than we do. From his choice of words, I think that there were only four of the matched purple diamonds. One is destroyed and each of his brothers has or had one. I assume Ve hid his, because he is Odin's prisoner and Odin is obviously out of purple diamonds. My seer senses tell me that he under-stated the diamonds' value. He absolutely needs it. It is crucial to some plan he has. Likely he was bringing his last diamond to the little circle at the pyramid-between-worlds to implement that plan, when he was surprised to find us there."

"So is he on our side or not?" Jaden asked Hermione.

"I don't think Odin is ever on any side but his own. The questions are whether he thinks he needs us and whether he thinks he can convince us to be on his side."

I excused myself and withdrew my thoughts into establishing a link with Harry. I could tell that the others continued to chat, but I didn't hear them. I was getting good at inter-world whispering. Harry and I truly are unique. It took me only half a minute to establish full contact.

I quickly dumped everything I knew, even trying to give Harry our best guesses. He seemed unsatisfied with 'everything' and probed for more detail, which I was unable to provide. By the time we finished this exercise, Dad and Tony had joined Harry, or perhaps they had always been there and Harry simply took first turn to ask questions.

The big question was always the same: "Can you and we trust these Aesir Gods?"

My answer was the same as always: "I just can't possibly know, but it would be very foolish to be too trusting. None of the Aesir were telling us all of the necessary background facts. Likely there was common cause. Likely there was a lot more in-fighting among the Aesir, which we would be wise to avoid. Yes, we were being suitably cautious. No, I wasn't safe. It wasn't possible to be safe while challenging a major God. Keeping Jaden out of Odin's bed carried risks, but I was determined to accept those risks."

Nobody was truly satisfied. I told Harry that I loved him and that it was a comfort to be able to share thoughts with him. It made me seem less far away from home. I needed Harry's physical touch, but at least I could touch his mind. He also was a merciful buffer between me and all of the leaders back home with demands that I couldn't possibly satisfy. Tony was the most straight-forward. He treated me as a soldier, never warning me that I must be safer. He at least recognized that there were big risks and that I needed to take them. He had lost most of his soldiers he had trusted me with. He liked me but, in the end, I'd be just another brave, dead soldier to him – just a young Witch who died doing her duty for Britain. These late thoughts spoiled my mood as I broke the link to Harry.

"Sorry guys," I told them. "No useful advice from back home. We are to do the impossible, which needs doing, while being perfectly safe. Have you decided anything, while I was otherwise engaged?"

"We think we should continue to engage with Odin and plan for our Quest to continue, but we need to be very wary of him. We also need to keep Jaden away from him. Harry needs to keep both harcrux-Jaden and her artefact safe."

I sent a follow-up message to Harry. We rejoined the rest of our team. Explanations were made. Questions were asked and answered. Professor Sturluson was especially excited about our chat with Odin.

"What you say about re-weaving the future and many little Ragnaroks leading up to the final grand Ragnarok could be true. If Odin recognizes the Loki clan as the source of his problems, and that does agree with the saga to a large extent, then I wonder why he doesn't just wipe them out. Sorry to be bloodthirsty, but Odin certainly can be. I know he regards it as bad form to kill another Aesir God, but if he has treated his own brother as you say he has, then why not Loki and his Werewolf spawn?"

"Do you have an answer to that question?" I asked the professor.

"Odin is a very honorable warrior. Perhaps he felt he needed specific examples of bad behavior in the current weave-cycle to justify murder. Perhaps Loki was smart enough not to directly slight or challenge him."

"I suppose that's a possible explanation," Jaden responded. "Still, the big question is this: If we help Odin get what he needs from BeyondWorld, will we be safe or will he just kill us when we are no longer useful to him?"

"I think his sense of honor protects you, unless you go out of your way to offend him, as it sounds like you did today. I doubt he holds that grudge over you. If he chooses to continue using your help, you will be judged by what you do in Hel and how you behave after you return. Odin has great respect for bold, brave warriors who achieve their goals. He honors them."

"Well, that's good then," Cissy summed things up.

"Of course he likes them even better and honors them even more when they're dead. Remember, his mission is to fill Valhalla in preparation for the next Ragnarok. You have a much better chance of surviving your Quest if you commit to fighting along-side Odin at Ragnarok."

"This is a very important Ragnarok," Hermione reminded me. "Frijjo has left Odin. He doesn't have her to re-weave another life-after-Ragnarok for him. He needs us – either to retrieve Frijjo, or his Valkyrie, or both."

Perhaps not so safe, after all. Perhaps the ultimate battle lay just before us. If I truly believed that another Odin defeat at Ragnarok meant the end of our world, of course I would willingly stand by his side – so would Harry. If not, I had more important things to do on my own world. I'd have to keep that thought from Odin's prying view. I'd need to blank it away. I was to hang from his Black Stone. That would strip all of my secrets bare. Dare I do it? Could I avoid doing it?

"Odin may not be as trapped as Hermione claims." Professor Sturluson seemed excited for the chance to score points on her. "Odin himself is a practioner of seid, the female magic involved in weaving alternative futures. It is something he learned while hanging from Yggdrasil, or what I guess I should start calling the Black Stone. Some of the Gods thought Odin a bit of a sissy because of his devotion to seid. That devotion might just save him."

"No!" Commander Harkwright was positively fierce. "You signed certain agreements when you came on this Quest. You may never mention the Black Stone outside this group or in discussions with the Prime Minister. This is a state secret. I am authorized to kill you to guarantee your silence."

That certainly put a damper on the good professor's enthusiasm.

"By the way," I asked the professor. "It's just coming up dinner time. Why did Odin stop our meeting to go off to bed?"

"Perhaps that was his way of avoiding killing you now? Perhaps he expected that one of you would be unable to resist following him? I've studied the sagas, not the actual Odin. If you want more help from me, then you have to let me speak to him. It would be best if I sat in on your meetings with him."

I thought 'yeah, that's really going to happen!', but merely said "I'll consider that."

I decided that there was sufficient time before dinner to make a quick visit to the forge and see if we could initiate McGonagall's first therapy session in the magical oval. I had, after all, promised Odin that I would help Narcissa's Quest. Revitalizing McGonagall in the oval was an acceptable way of doing so. I was not at all sure that I could bear to have a band of Slytherin Questers mucking around with my Black Stone. It just wasn't right.

We were able to energize the ovals. Well, Hermione was able to do it. I hadn't quite figured them out, but with Hermione's explanation and demonstration, I felt I could do it, if I needed to.

As soon as I got McGonagall nestled into one of the ovals, Cissy asked for a 'tune up' in the other. I saw no danger in that. We gave them an hour of treatment, having them carry swords into the ovals for good measure. They both seemed peppier and happier after their treatment was over.

"That really helped, I feel wonderful. How many more sessions will I need – to get my old mind back, I mean?" McGonagall was quite anxious.

I had to tell her that I really didn't know. Mafalda had been in the oval about twenty-five times. Mafalda seemed decades younger, but she was certainly far from middle-aged Mafalda skills. I say this, because Mafalda told me that herself.

"Very well, I must speak to Mafalda. This is encouraging. If I am to be a Quest Muse or to return to my headmaster duties, then I need at least the mind I had a half dozen years ago."

I assured her that this should be no problem at all. I really didn't think it would be a problem, but how could I actually know for sure?

We had brought quite a quantity and variety of food with us. When we left the forge, I saw two large cauldrons bubbling away over wand-heated rocks. A closer look revealed a vegetable curry and a chicken stew. I filled a bowl with a bit of each, I was still not all that hungry post-lunch, and suggested to Hermione that she and I should chat with Cho and Jaden.

"You do it. I need to confer with Ellie. Bye!"

She was gone before I was able to reply.

I told Cho that it appeared that it would be just she and I to discuss a particular strategy I was mulling over. She suggested I add Barb and Captain Davies if this was about combat strategy. I agreed. We grabbed some food and we sat with our backs against the wall of the observatory to eat and talk. Pegasus decided to lie down next to us and Aagog curled up on my legs.

"I had an idea about how we might approach the rulers of BeyondWorld," I told them. "It's just the kernel of an idea, but I thought you, and I had hoped Hermione, could help me flesh it out into an operational plan."

"We'll be happy to listen to your idea, but Hermione doesn't want us to add our thoughts, and doesn't think you should try to take your kernel of an idea very far… best to keep it as vague and general as possible."

"Why?"

"You're going to hang. Odin's going to steal every thought from your head. It's too risky. If you've got a really good plan, it'll be a waste. We'll have to completely change it if the Black Stone learns what it is. I thought you agreed with Hermione."

"Huh?"

"Be cooperative with Odin, but be cautious and keep our secrets secret. Hermione thinks the less we tell you before you're hung, the better it is for all of us. We aren't to tell her either, until she know for sure that she won't have to hang."

"I guess I did say something like that. It does make sense. I was going to try to bury certain thoughts deep in my head, but I'm not at all convinced that I can pull that off. Yes, best that I not be learning any new important secrets. Hermione just never told me this quite so… directly."

"Did I miss anything important?" Hermione was standing right in front of me.

"No. I just learned that I shouldn't be doing too much specific planning until I've been hung. I'm guessing its best that I not ask what you and Ellie have been talking about."

"Agreed."


End file.
